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Housing costs are the number one concern for many New Yorkers, and they’re at the center of this year’s race for governor. Kathy Hochul says the state has to build its way out of rising rents, while challenger Bruce Blakeman argues the city already has empty apartments kept off the market by rent stabilization laws, and says he’s proud that home prices have gone up.

WNYC and Gothamist reporter David Brand takes us to East New York, where 24 year old Taylor Rivers works two jobs and still can’t find an apartment she can afford, to break down what each candidate is promising and why all the new construction hasn’t brought prices down. This is the final episode of our four part series, New York State of Unaffordability.

Photo: Taylor Rivers / photo by David Brand

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• Mamdani plans redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue after nurse killed in hit-and-run
• GOP candidates in NY face a changed landscape on immigration
   

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Recorded live at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in East Harlem, this installment of In Conversation: The Affordability Series explores the optimism surrounding the long-awaited Second Avenue Subway extension, along with the concerns and impacts felt by local residents and businesses. The Q train could bring shorter commutes, better connections and new opportunities to a neighborhood that has waited generations for improved transit. Community leaders, tenants, business advocates and MTA representatives discuss what the subway could mean for East Harlem and how longtime residents and businesses can take part in its future.

Panelists include:

• Melody Capote, executive director of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
• Adem Brija, chair of Manhattan Community Board 11
• Ulices Mendez, organizer with the East Harlem Tenant Union
• Carey King, director of Uptown Grand Central
• Lucille Songhai, MTA senior director of Government and Community Relations
• Joe O’Donnell, senior director of Strategic Public Affairs at MTA Construction and Development

Photo cred: Ramsey Khalifeh- WNYC/Gothamist

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For more of Ramsey’s reporting on the Second Avenue Subway extension in East Harlem:

• The Second Avenue subway forced him to move 20 years ago. He almost had to move again.
• Short-term pain for a long-term train: MTA subway construction upends life in East Harlem
• The Second Avenue subway forced this East Harlem family from their home
• As MTA moves ahead with 2nd Avenue subway extension, East Harlem locals brace for change

Other stories mentioned:

• In East Brooklyn, aging NYCHA homes get a $636M upgrade
• What NYers can expect as open enrollment for health insurance begins

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WNYC and Gothamist reporter Hannah Frishberg joins us with some of the best ways to celebrate Halloween across New York City. From the Great PUPkin dog costume contest and haunted attractions to a Lower East Side bookstore crawl and some truly unusual live performances.

Photo: WNYC & Gothamist

• Your guide to voting in New York's 2026 elections for governor and Congress
• Council OKs bill to end horse carriage industry in NYC
• MTA suspending bus fare enforcement teams after altercations emerge

Halloween in NYC: Events and Activities Mentioned in This Episode

28th Annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest

Saturday, October 24, noon to 1 p.m. at Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn. Free for spectators. Competing dogs must register in advance for a fee. Part of Fort Greene Park's free Halloween Festival, running from noon to 4 p.m.

Halloween on the Farm at Queens County Farm Museum

Saturday, October 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Queens. Trick-or-treating, a corn maze, hayrides, ghost stories and farm animals. Tickets are $15 for adults, $25 for children ages 2–17 and free for children under 2.

Ridgewood Asylum Haunted House

Open through November 1 at 272 Seigel Street, Brooklyn. An interactive haunted house with escape-room elements. General admission is approximately $43. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Sunday, 6 to 11 p.m. Halloween week hours are 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Advance online tickets recommended.

Twisted Trails Haunted Attraction

Open on select dates through October 31 at 496 Annadale Road, Staten Island. Outdoor haunted trail with both scare-actor and less frightening no-actor sessions. Admission prices and hours vary by date; check the event calendar. An additional $10 fast pass is available. Children ages 3 and under enter free. Tickets are sold at the entrance on a first-come, first-served basis.

Lower East Side Halloween Bookstore Crawl

Saturday, October 24, throughout the day. Visit seven participating independent bookstores across the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods, including Sweet Pickle Books, Book Club Bar and Yu & Me Books. Special discounts, costume contests and giveaways. Individual store hours and offers vary.

Halloween Movie Night Honoring Tim Curry at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

Friday, October 30, at BKCM Prospect Park West, 963 President Street, Brooklyn. Doors open at 6 p.m.; screenings begin at 6:30 p.m. Featuring Clue and Muppet Treasure Island, plus costume contests. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children under 18 and free for children 2 and under. Popcorn and a soft drink included.

Catbaret: Meowloween at Caveat

Saturday, October 31, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at Caveat, 21A Clinton Street, Manhattan. Cat-themed comedy, music, burlesque and a costume contest. Tickets are $30.08 online, including fees, $35 at the door or $11.63 for the livestream. Ages 21 and older.

Swamp Dogg and Alana Amram's Muppet Cover Band at TV Eye

Saturday, October 31, at TV Eye, 1647 Weirfield Street, Ridgewood, Queens. Doors open at 2 p.m.; show starts at 3 p.m. An all-ages Halloween concert featuring Swamp Dogg and a tribute to Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Tickets are $26 in advance before fees, or $35 at the door if available.

Haunted Hotel at Lakeside in Prospect Park

Open through November 1 at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, 171 East Drive, Brooklyn. Haunted walkthrough recommended for ages 13 and older. Admission is $35 Tuesday through Sunday and $20 on Mondays. On Halloween, the Haunted Hotel is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The surrounding family-friendly Harvest Festival also features a pumpkin patch, $5 corn maze and $5 games.

53rd Annual Village Halloween Parade

Saturday, October 31, beginning at 7 p.m., rain or shine. Free viewing along Sixth Avenue from King Street to West 15th Street. The parade is expected to finish around 11 p.m.

Anyone wearing a costume can march for free. Participants should line up near Sixth Avenue and Canal Street between 6:30 and 9 p.m. No advance registration required for general marchers. Alcohol is prohibited. Paid VIP viewing and special-access options are also available.

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Some Upstate New York residents say their utility bills have more than doubled in the past year, and the cost of keeping the lights on has become one of the biggest issues in this year’s race for governor. As governor, Kathy Hochul has offered rebate checks and a new Ratepayer Protection Plan, while her Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman has pledged to cut utility bills in half.

WNYC reporter Jon Campbell takes us to Lockport, New York, to hear from residents and break down what each candidate is promising, how realistic it is, and what frustrated voters make of it all in the third episode of our four part series leading up to the November 3rd election: New York State of Unaffordability.

Photo: Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News via Getty Images

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• Parents grumble as NYC schools chancellor dodges calls for NYC schools integration plan
• Join us on Thursday, October 22nd 2026 for In Conversation: The Affordability Series

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New York City is moving closer to ending its horse carriage industry. With the City Council preparing to vote on a bill that would ban carriage rides starting in June 2028, WNYC and Gothamist reporter Liam Quigley visits a Hell’s Kitchen stable to hear from workers worried about losing their jobs and owners concerned about their investments.

Photo: Liam Quigley /WNYC/Gothamist

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• These are the NYC neighborhoods that will get free 2-K next fall 
• Eric Adams' NYC buildings boss Eric Ulrich heads to trial, 3 years after arrest 

More on the proposed horse carriage ban

• NYC Council, Mayor Mamdani agree to end Central Park's carriage horse industry
• Teen's death in Central Park horse carriage fall has lawmakers pushing to ban industry
• Central Park carriage horse died after eating toxic shrub, examination finds
•  Family says stray voltage may have contributed to fatal Central Park carriage crash. 

More on safety concerns on Central Park's loop

• Central Park's car-free loop is busier than ever. Crashes keep piling up

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WNYC and Gothamist arts and culture editor Matthew Schnipper joins us to talk about Kelly Clarkson’s dispute with Brooklyn Heights shop Art of Play, a photographer trying to document every neighborhood in the city and what really makes someone a New Yorker. Plus, Citi Bike’s unlikely rise as a symbol of New York cool and some of the places opening their doors for Open House New York.

Photo: Sonia Rao/ WNYC & Gothamist

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• Mamdani and 100+ NY officials urge parking lot owners to ban ICE
• Avila Chevalier insists her beef is with NYPD Commissioner Tisch, not Mamdani
• A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
• Are you a New Yorker? The Department of New Yorker Verification will now decide.
• The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
• Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City

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Micron, the chipmaker building a massive complex outside Syracuse, says it will bring 50,000 jobs to Central New York. In this year’s race for governor, Kathy Hochul has put billions in state subsidies behind the project, while challenger Bruce Blakeman says the state should get out of the way and let businesses come on their own. But for the people training for those jobs, the bigger question is how soon they’ll arrive and who will actually get them.

WNYC and Gothamist reporter Jimmy Vielkind takes us to Syracuse to see what’s riding on Micron in part two of our four part series: New York State of Unaffordability, dropping every Wednesday in October.

Photo: Micron Chip Camp / Jimmy Vielkind

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• NYC Council, Mayor Mamdani agree to end Central Park's carriage horse industry
• NYC's taxi union teams with Uber, private equity firm to demand healthcare after 4 driver deaths
• NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say
   

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After at least four yellow cab drivers died while working in New York City this summer, WNYC reporter Ramsey Khalife examines the financial pressures that can keep drivers behind the wheel even when they are sick. 

Photo: Ramsey Khalifeh - WNYC/Gothamist
 

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• Driving to death: NYC yellow taxi drivers keep dying on the job, unable to make ends meet

For more on ICE shooting at Marble Hill:

• What we know about the ICE shooting in New York City
• Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
• Plainclothes ICE agent with long gun looked like mass shooter, Mayor Mamdani says

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WNYC and Gothamist reporter Ben Feuerherd joins us to break down what we know about the shooting in Marble Hill, where a federal immigration agent shot 28 year old Oscar Belgal while his five year old son was inside the car. They discuss newly released NYPD body camera footage, the department’s role when federal agents operate in New York City, the public's response and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s unsuccessful effort to secure Belgal’s release from federal custody.

Photo: NYPD bodycam footage

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• What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
• DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
• Attorneys argue man shot by ICE in Marble Hill should be released
• Feds blame NYC's sanctuary policies for violent ICE arrest in Marble Hill

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In a small daycare center in Upstate New York, families are pulling their kids out after the state assistance that made childcare affordable ran dry. It's happening in dozens of counties across New York, and it's part of a bigger fight over the cost of living that's at the center of this year's race for governor. Kathy Hochul wants to expand childcare subsidies, while challenger Bruce Blakeman argues the state should have a limited role in supporting care arrangements.

WNYC and Gothamist reporter Jimmy Vielkind heads to Willsboro, New York to see what's at stake for families and daycare owners, and joins us to kick off our four part series, New York State of Unaffordability, dropping every Wednesday in October.

Photo: Clubhouse Daycare Center / courtesy Taylor Loreman 

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• NYC moves to spend nearly $9M of gender-affirming care fund for minors
• NYC’s autumn foliage will be a fall feast this year
   

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