We speak with Conrad Blackburn, a public defender, union organizer and democratic socialist running for Assembly District 70 in Harlem. Blackburn says the Harlem political establishment is out of touch with the needs of the community and is more concerned with catering to wealthy special interests which Blackburn says are on track to spend more than $2 million to defeat his campaign against Assembly District 70 incumbent Jordan Wright, son of Keith L.T. Wright who held the same Assembly seat from 1993 to 2016 before becoming Chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party.

Emily Gallagher, a democratic socialist from Brooklyn first elected to the State Assembly in 2020, discusses how Gov. Hochul has used her disproportionate power to break the legislative process for deciding on the states roughly $265 billion annual budget to push regressive legislation that has nothing to do with the budget and how this mess can be fixed if the legislature can find the courage to take on the governor.

Reneé Feltz discusses her epic cover story for the May print edition of The Indypendent titled “Trash Revolution: NYC Dumps Throwaway Culture for Sanitation Overhaul. Will It Succeed?”

What is or is not in New York State's roughly $265 billion annual budget affects every facet of life—education, health care, public transit, parks, public safety, the budgets of cities and towns large and small and so much more. By law, the budget was supposed to be completed by April 1. Six weeks later, negotiations between Gov. Kathy Hochul, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and State Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins continues to drag on. We spoke with Assembly member Emily Gallagher, a democratic socialist from Brooklyn first elected to the State Assembly in 2020, about how Gov. Hochul has used her disproportionate power to break the budget process to push regressive legislation that has nothing to do with the budget and how this mess can be fixed if the legislature can find the courage to take on the governor.

In the second half of our show, we spoke with Reneé Feltz about her epic cover story for the May print edition of The Indypendent titled “Trash Revolution: NYC Dumps Throwaway Culture for Sanitation Overhaul. Will It Succeed?” We were also joined by Clarisa Alayeto, a South Bronx activist who has fought to clean up her community for decades and is featured in Renee’s cover story.

In the first half of our May 5 show, we spoke with movement journalist Talia Jane and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso about the chaos that rocked Bushwick late Saturday night when ICE and NYPD clashed outside Wyckoff Hospital with protesters trying to prevent ICE from taking away an immigrant they had arrested and injured earlier that night. Mayor Zohran Mamdani says that the NYPD did not collaborate with ICE. Some of his supporters believe otherwise.

In the second half of the show we spoke with David Orkin. He's an immigrant workers’ rights attorney at Make the Road New York. He’s running for Assembly District 38 in Queens as a democratic socialist who wants to bring the struggle against ICE and oligarchy into the state legislature. His opponent is one of former Mayor Eric Adams’s most notorious allies.

Local journalist Talia Jane covers social movements here in the city and has reported extensively on police brutality against protesters. They covered Saturday night’s confrontation between ICE/NYPD and protesters trying to prevent the abduction of Nigerian immigrant Chidozie Wilson Okeke.

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso says the fear generated by ICE's violent appearance on Saturday night at the Wyckoff Hospital is spreading throughout the heavily immigrant community of Bushwick.

In the second half of our show, we spoke with David Orkin. He is an immigrant workers’ rights attorney at Make the Road New York. He’s running for Assembly District 38 in Queens as a democratic socialist who wants to bring the struggle against ICE and oligarchy into the state legislature. His opponent, Jennifer Rajkumar, is one of former Mayor Eric Adams’s most notorious allies.

April 28, 2026: Peter Sterne Joins Us for Political Updates and Joseph Mogul Talks About The Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard Movement by The Indypendent

Peter Sterne from City & State, joins us for another enriching conversation on upcoming elections, mayoral updates and political happenings.