Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, good morning, everyone. The first official New York City Democratic mayoral primary debate is one week from tonight. It's a WNYC-sponsored debate along with New York One, and the nonprofit news organization, The City. I will be one of the moderators along with Josefa Velasquez from The City and New York One's Errol Louis. The first Democratic primary debate, 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM, next Thursday, here on WNYC and New York One.

I want to let you in on the behind-the-scenes process of formulating good questions for the debate a little bit, and invite you to participate in that. We will call this invitation, Ask the Next Mayor. We do Ask the Mayor here with Bill de Blasio on Fridays, we'll do one tomorrow. We'll call this segment, Ask the Next Mayor. Here's the structure. I've been assigned to develop questions for the candidates on three topic areas.

Public health, that includes COVID, but not just COVID, education, and climate. Public health, education, and climate. We want to invite you to propose a question in any of those areas. If it's one of the best frame questions we get, we will use it or draw from it in the debate. We're making this a one-day project, you will have until noon tomorrow to get your proposed questions in. We'll give you a few ways to submit your idea for a debate question. You can post it on Twitter. Use the hashtag, Ask the Next Mayor, #askthenextmayor, or you can email blshow@wnyc.org and use the subject line, Ask the Next Mayor, blshow@wnyc.org.

We'll kick it off with a call in right now at 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. Ask the next mayor a question about public health, education, or climate. Now, as you're thinking about this and starting to call, I'll give you what I consider some tips and tricks about developing a question that we might really be able to use. I'm thinking about three types of questions you might try to submit.

One is to make the question personal to you. Describe a situation in your New York City life that pertains to COVID or other public health, education, or climate change, that a mayor, with the right policy, might be able to address and that'll representative-- your stories, hopefully would be representative of what a lot of other people might be experiencing as well. We definitely do want your personal stories, that suggest policy issues, but not that's so unique to you that it doesn't raise a larger policy question for the candidates.

You get that idea, I'm sure, and that's probably the best tip I've got. A question that tells a short personal story, but one that is representative of enough other New Yorkers to make it a policy debate issue 646-435-7280. If you think you've got something like that right now, you can write them in later to the Twitter hashtag or the email address I gave, but we'll take some on the phones right now, 646-435-7280.

Another tip or another kind of question is to remember that this is a massive field of candidates. Eight candidates will be in the debate, the biggest debate I've ever been involved in moderating, and it comes with certain challenges. The biggest challenge, behind the scenes, we're talking about this in our debate meetings, is that each of these issue topics will have a limited amount of time, so we can get the candidates on enough different topic areas to serve the listening and viewing public who may not be all that engaged in the race quite yet. That's just the reality this year.

We could do a whole debate on public health, don't you know, a whole debate on education, and a whole debate on the city's climate policies, and we wouldn't run out of things to talk about, but two hours with eight candidates on a handful of really obligatory top-line issues, these are just the three that I've been asked to prep. That's what we've got, two hours with eight candidates on a handful of mandatory issues.

Some of you listening now are politics junkies or very knowledgeable about certain issues. Obviously, that might make it easier or might make it harder to write a good debate question. Most of the viewers and listeners will want to know some basics, because they're not as engaged as you, about how each of these candidates compares to the others. Bring them out in a specific enough, but introductory enough way, and that's a challenge. Don't let it scare you off, but you can use that to help you develop a good general comparative question on a topic that'll still force them to give specific answers.

646-435-7280, or tweet it with a hashtag, Ask the Next Mayor, or email it to blshow@wnyc.org with the subject line, Ask the Next Mayor. One more tip is you can help us with a follow-up question for a specific candidate. Now we're getting into the weeds, but we'll probably have time for a few of those in each round after the general question on the topic. If you know something, or are curious about something about one of the candidates on one of these issues, you can submit a question like that, too, okay? I hope those are helpful. It's Ask the Next Mayor 646-435-7280, if you want to do it right now.

By the way, we'll also be doing a Republican mayoral primary debate two weeks later with the same team. We'll eventually invite your questions for that, too, but the Dems go first, so we're doing that right now, though you do not have to be a registered Democrat to submit a question here. As your calls are coming in, we welcome two guests who are following the mayoral campaign very closely, Sally Goldenberg, City Hall bureau chief for Politico New York, and Ben Max, executive editor of Gotham Gazette, and cohost of the Max & Murphy podcast, which is about New York city affairs. Hey, Sally, hey, Ben. Welcome back, both of you.

Sally Goldenberg: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Ben Max: Hey, Brian.

Brian: Ben, by the way, I mistyped your name into a Google search this morning, and it gave me a liquor store in Stanford called Bev Max. Just thought you'd like to know that that's out there. If Ben Max ever needs to pick up a case of beer or something, you want to go to Bev Max. It exists. Give us some political analysis, Sally, of the landscape going into the debate. I see you wrote up today a new poll that for the first time, does not who Andrew Yang in the lead.

Sally: That's right and thanks for having me. Yesterday, we reported on a poll that was commissioned by Corey Johnson's comptroller campaign for his own, to see his own numbers, but what it found on the mayor's race was pretty interesting. Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, who had pretty consistently been running second place to Andrew Yang, for the first time in a poll that I've seen, came out on top with 21% of the 500 likely Democratic voters surveyed last week, saying they would rank him first.

18% said they would pick Andrew Yang, and 15% named Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, who we should note, that had a sexual assault allegation surface against him last week, during the same time the poll was in the field being conducted. I thought that piece about Scott Stringer was relevant, but really the most notable thing to me was this is the first time as you note that Andrew Yang, since he entered the race in January, with pretty high name recognition in New York City, has not been first. Eric Adams has not been on air yet with his own ads, and he has been pretty consistently campaigning on a message of combating gun violence. That's his fairly consistent message.

He was a police officer. He wants a strong police department. He's very much emphatically not a supporter of the Defund Police movement. That message, according to this poll seems to be resonating with some segment of the electorate. It is certainly not popular with everybody. He's going to have trouble with certain segments of Democratic voters, but there are clearly people concerned about crime who are hearing his message. Andrew Yang remains strong. He's out with his first ad today about reopening the city. He's going forward with a very hopeful message about recovery from COVID.

Brian: Ben, I assume you've seen these numbers, too. Is there any way to tell yet the impact of the sexual misconduct allegation against Stringer? We interviewed him about it yesterday. One of our Gothamist reporters interviewed Jean Kim, his accuser, yesterday, and I see some strong feelings either way based on feedback from listeners, so far.

Ben: No, I don't think we can really get a real sense of the impact, yet. We know that it certainly hurts Stringer, we just don't know how much, and we don't know how much opportunity he has to overcome the ways it's hurting him. We don't know if it's a temporary hurt because of the narrative around his candidacy and the endorsers who are leaving. We know that those endorsers leaving will have some sort of long-term impact on the campaign, but again, we don't know how much.

We often make a little bit, probably too much of endorsements. In some ways, we might make a little bit too little of them in terms of how some of the candidates in groups would be helping to provide volunteers, and reaching out to their donor networks for donations. That will hurt him in the coming weeks where he'll need that, but we don't know yet where this leaves him. That's why, to what Sally was discussing, we've known for a while that among the top tier of eight candidates on the Democratic side there was a top tier within the top tier, and that was Yang, Adams and Stringer, but now, we probably see Yang and Adams as a top tier, and Scott Stringer floating somewhere beneath them, near them.

We don't know where he's going to float to, and then five other candidates with different levels of strengths, and weaknesses, and opportunities, all looking to really try to break out.

Brian: Sally, Stringer lost many endorsements over the last week Working Families Party, members of Congress, including Espaillat, but Nadler is still with him, significant members of the State Senate, Biaggi, Salazar, some others, and the UFT however is still with him. He picked up a Teamsters local endorsement in the last few days. They endorsed him even in the face of this being new. How do you analyze who has stayed and who has come or gone, because endorsers have their own interests, too?

Sally: Absolutely. I think people who are endorsing him because they've long been supporters and share a geographic base, like Jerry Nadler, Linda Rosenthal in the Upper West Side, I think they probably assume, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say they're probably right, that his base on the Upper West Side is sticking with him. Now, that could change by election day, but from the reporting we've done, we've been out in the field a bit on the Upper West Side, I don't want to say everybody still supports him, but we've definitely heard from people who are sticking with him. I think those endorsers are probably sensing that.

The people and the vast majority of his endorsers, you're right, have left. I think those are people who have their own bases to answer for whom they were bringing Scott Stringer to their bases. He's a citywide elected official, but he was banking on some of these folks, Jessica Ramos, the Working Families Party, Alessandra Biaggi, Julia Salazar, to be a bridge for him into communities where he may not have as high name recognition. They have fairly progressive bases. These bases have long said, believe all women, believe women when they're saying they were sexually assaulted.

I think they presume it would have been problematic for them to say, "Well, we believe all women, but not this one woman who's accusing Scott Stringer of misconduct," which I should say, he's denying the allegation. These people have their own supporters to answer for. I think there's a political calculation in that.

Also, State Senator Ramos said to us in an interview last week, it's not so much that she's opposed to Stringer, that she doesn't believe him, it's that she thinks this weakens him and then strengthens either Andrew Yang or Eric Adams. She feels both of them would be problematic for the progressive movement she's part of, so this was very much a calculation on her part, and she said as much, more so than a moral judgment.

Ben: Just briefly, Brian, I'm sorry. I was just saying just briefly, Scott Stringer has never really won voters of color. What he was counting on as another white guy looking to be mayor, was that these endorsers, as Sally was saying, would help him in communities of color, and reach out to the progressive left flank that he wanted to win, and now, all of that is really in some serious question.

Brian: To reset, for those of you who are just joining us, my guests are Sally Goldenberg, City Hall bureau chief for Politico New York, and Ben Max, executive editor of the Gotham Gazette. We've been doing a little political analysis of the race, and we'll do some more as we go, but we were really killing time so that you would have time to get your calls in on the real centerpiece of this segment. Which is that I've been assigned to develop questions for the candidates in next week's first Democratic mayoral primary debate on three topic areas.

Public health, including COVID, but not just COVID, also education, and climate. We're inviting you to propose a question in any of those areas. If it's one of the best framed questions we get, we'll use it or draw from it in the debate. We're opening this up to you, our debate prep assignment. Our lines are full. Let's start going through some callers, and Tersa in Brooklyn. You're on WNYC. Thank you so much for calling in.

Teresa: Hi. Teresa, my name is

Brian: Teresa, I'm sorry.

Teresa: Can you hear me? No, that's okay. I'm so excited to talk to you Brian Lehrer, you're my favorite radio person. I'm calling because my son is an EMT, and he makes a little bit more than minimum wage. He works for the FDNY, so his salary is way lower than the fire department's salary and a first responder. He loves his job. His favorite part of his job is deescalating. He goes out with the police when there's an emotionally disturbed person, and he loves to work with the EDPs, they call them, and help deescalate the situation, so that the police don't have to step in.

He is lucky because his parents are middle-class, and we can help him, but he cannot survive on his own in New York City. Most of the EMTs in New York are people of color. I'm just curious as to, is there going to be any movement on the wages and benefits of the EMTs in New York City? I want you to know, both my husband and I emailed separately every candidate on this, and not one of them got back to me. I guess it's a small niche issue.

Brian: Yes, but you know what, they were among the heroes. They're heroes every day, EMTs, and they certainly were among the heroes, and those who made tremendous sacrifices and took tremendous risks in COVID, and I knew this, but I'm sure it's a shock to many people to hear that an EMT can be paid minimum wage. Is there a union, by the way? I don't know that

Teresa: It's a little more. I think it's $16 and change.

Brian: Just over the $15 minimum wage. Teresa, thank you so much. We will take that under advisement. Let's go next to Dara in Harlem. Dara, you're on WNYC, hi, there.

Dara: Hi. Thank you, Brian. I really appreciate you taking my call. I've lived in Harlem for the last eight years, but in New York City for the last almost 30, and love living up here. I know that there's pockets of areas where we have some great neighborhood gardens where there's been abandoned lots. There's a couple in our area that we would love to develop, but the paperwork, putting it through and trying to find the right person is unbelievable. I think that these gardens, share, bring people together. They bring community together, there's education for kids. It becomes an area where we have more trees, and plants, and I would love for there to be an easier process to get that done throughout the five boroughs.

Brian: Dara, thank you very much. I'm going to go to one more and then we'll talk about all these questions with our guests, and then we'll do them in sets over the next little bit. We got one public health question, we got one climate question, and now we're going to take an education question being proposed by Judy in Brooklyn. Judy, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Judy: Good morning, Brian. How are you?

Brian: Good, thank you.

Judy: I taught in a New York city school for 31 years. Although college is wonderful, it's really not for everyone. I would ask the next mayor about vocational schools, trade schools that could equip a young person with the ability to go out and make a living.

Brian: Judy, thank you very much. On trade schools. Let's discuss each of those a little bit. Ben, how do you think the candidates would respond if we asked them Teresa's. question about her son, the EMT, who makes just over minimum wage, and she wrote to all of them and nobody responded. That's a union negotiating issue, I guess, and if you happen to know, why do they make so little money?

Ben: This is definitely a heated issue right now in city government, much less the campaign. This is going to be, I believe a major topic within the city budget negotiations that are happening now and will be decided by July 1st. I think there's something of a chance that there will be a change to those salaries and those rates coming, especially given the way the city has been spending money after the federal relief bill came through, but I think there are negotiating questions there, but I know there's, quite a few members of the city council currently pushing for some changes there. By the time the next mayor takes office, there might be some shifts on that.

I think this has been a profession that has definitely been undervalued. There's been coverage of that over the last couple of years, especially since there was the killing of an EMT in a pretty terrible incident a couple of years ago, and a lot of highlights on the job, and its low pay, and troublesome situation then. I think the candidates would probably respond that they will talk with their staffs about why an email to the sort of-- I imagine they were more to the generic campaign email accounts that are often on websites, and those probably need to be checked better. I imagine most, if not all, of these Democratic candidates would probably pledge and maybe some of them have, to up those rates.

Brian: Sally, on community gardens, the second caller, is there a conflict between community gardens and affordable housing? If there are vacant lots, if that's the right phrase for it, things that don't currently have buildings on them, let's say, around the city, that that's an opportunity for the city to step in and develop more affordable housing, which every mayoral candidate will want to do, and the very reasonable desire to have community gardens for all the benefits that they bring on the-- that was related to the climate. That was the topic under which that question was asked, but it's also quality of life, but is there a conflict there?

Sally: Sure. There is, and I think you're right, it's a climate issue, but it definitely is also an affordable housing issue, and you're right. There are community gardens throughout the city. Some are public, some are private, and City Hall has looked in certain instances to develop housing in them. The de Blasio administration has had a long protracted fight over redeveloping the Elizabeth Street Garden on the east side of Manhattan, to do a senior affordable housing, mixed-use project, and that the community was opposed to it.

This local city council member, Margaret's Chin, I believe, was supportive of it, and voted for it in the city council, and it went to court, and that went on. I'm not sure what the latest status of that is, but that has been a conflict in pockets of the city. Look, there's a housing shortage in New York City by pretty much all accounts, and certainly before people moved out during COVID, there was a housing emergency that is a technical definition, every time the survey was conducted by the city's housing department every few years.

The city looks to land where housing can be developed, where it's safe, and the land use code will allow that, and the gardens have come up as one area where the city has tried to do, usually some mixed-use projects that would have housing, and I guess would preserve some open space. It is controversial because people want, New York is a very crowded city, and people want space, and people want green space and a place to go for peace of mind, but there's also just very limited space to build. You can't just build up and up and up. There's regulations on all of that.

The community gardens is going to be an issue for the next mayor, but more broadly than that, how to handle the housing shortage, where to build. I think the pendulum is swinging back in the direction of a pro-development conversation lately, at least that I've noticed among some of the top tier candidates, and I think that is a major issue for the next mayor.

Brian: All right. We will continue in a minute, everybody, with another set of your proposed questions for next Thursday's first Democratic primary mayoral candidates' debate that I'll be one of the questioners in. I've been asked to develop questions in the areas of public health, that's COVID and other public health, and climate change, and education as they all relate to city policy. We're inviting you to submit potential questions, 646-435-7280, and we've got more political analysis to come with our guests, Sally Goldenberg from Politico New York, and Ben Max from Gotham Gazette as well. Stay with us.

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Brian: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. As we invite you to propose a question in the three topic areas of public health, education, and climate, for next Thursday night's first Democratic primary mayoral debate. It'll be here in WNYC from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM and on New York One. I'll be moderating with a Errol Louis from New York One, and Josefa Velasquez from the nonprofit news organization, The City, and we're inviting you to propose a question in my topic areas, that I might draw from right now on the phones, or again, you can submit your idea up until noon for a debate question idea, up until noon tomorrow, at the email address, blshow@wnyc.org. Use the subject line, Ask the Next Mayor.

Subject line Ask the Next Mayor, email blshow@wnyc.org, or same thing on Twitter, use the hashtag, Ask the Next Mayor, and write your questions there. You have until noon tomorrow to submit one, and then we will go through, and sort, and choose, and see what we got by then. My guests are Sally Goldenberg, City Hall bureau chief for Politico New York, and Ben Max, the hard-hitting executive editor of Gotham Gazette. Ben, we just got a tweet that said, "This listener can confirm that Bev Max in Stanford is a great source for hard-hitting beverages," so there you go. Let's go next to Hezekiah in Harlem, you're on WNYC. Hello, Hezekiah.

Hezekiah: Hi, it's Hezekiah. Thanks for taking my call. What I wanted to know, I have a brownstone, all right? They won't let me put any solar panels on it. I don't understand, why won't they let us do that? The other little question I have is, in Harlem where I'm from, the public schools, I guess, are no different from the rest of the city. I don't want to send my kid to a school where they have to have people that work for NYPD watching the place.

I think I would ask them, what are they doing wrong that they have to do that? Why is it that Catholic schools, or private schools don't have that element there? The other little thing is what we're going to do with all these people that are living in these hotels right now that are homeless because of COVID? With this thing going away, what are we going to do with all these thousands of people? Brian, you are fabulous. Thank you.

Brian: You're very kind and yes, you can be my official debate prep partner, since you gave us a question in each of the three categories. Let's see, do either of you know, Ben or Sally, if there are rules about putting solar panels on brownstones? That's a very specific question.

Sally: I can't say I know what the rules are, but there are generally rules in New York City's housing and building codes for absolutely everything, so I'm sure there are, but I'm not exactly sure what the rules are.

Brian: Okay. We're going to just answer that one question, even though Hezekiah put three great questions on the table so we can let more people in here. Let's go to Sasha in Manhattan. Sasha, you're on WNYC. Hi.

Sasha: Hey, thanks for taking my call. My question is that as a wheelchair user for the last 12 years, I've been just astounded to learn how few public schools are accessible, less than a quarter, which is just like our subway. I grew up here as an able-bodied person, so I never knew how many people with disabilities can in fact be hidden from sight when we're not included. It's only as a parent taking my kids to a baseball, or chess tournaments that I've learned this.

Obviously, that's deeply discriminatory for students and teachers with disabilities, and the other students there who don't see us and get to learn about disability. Unlike the subways and the MTA where we've had to work with Albany, since the governor controls that, the schools are under city control, and the Department of Education in America can have a big effect. How would you make all the public schools accessible for people with all kinds of disabilities?

Brian: Sasha, thank you. What kind of particular accommodation would be the most helpful, if you had to choose one that's the most glaring, and that you find most often as you go around as a parent?

Sasha: The one that affects me the worst, chair free access. Ramps and elevators, even getting in the front door of many schools is not possible, let alone to the cafeteria where the chess tournament might be, or the upstairs gym where the baseball practice might be.

Brian: That's kind of shocking to hear in 2021.

Sasha: In a public school, 30 years after ADA. It's completely shocking. That's when I'm talking about visible disabilities. Think about hearing aids for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. That's a simple technology that could be put in.

Brian: Sasha, thank you very much for that question. John, in Fort Greene, you're on WNYC. Hi, John?

John: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. My question for the mayoral candidates is I'm a father, my daughter is going to turn two in June, and we actually have baby number two on the way. I am wondering if all the mayoral candidates have committed to continue the expansion of pre-K to 3-K, and what they're going to do specifically to make sure that it is available, for people like me specifically, by the time my daughter turns three in June of 2022, is my question.

Brian: John, thank you very much. Ben, I presume that there's no blowback at all to Mayor de Blasio's pre-K and now 3-K program as they try to expand that to universal 3-K, it's not universal yet. It that the most popular thing that he's done in his eight years?

Ben: Oh, I would say pretty much without a doubt universal pre-K, and then the expansion to 3-K is the thing that is seen as most popular, and that it's most complimented, and it's the thing where you'll hear mayoral candidates say, "I disagree with Bill de Blasio on just about everything, but I give him credit for pre-K." I don't think any of these candidates are talking about rolling back that plan, and the way the mayor has rolled 3-K and the promise to make that universal in the next couple of years, obviously, that puts it on the plate of the next mayor to finish the implementation, but I haven't heard anything from the Democratic candidates about rolling that back.

I would assume they wouldn't, unless there were some huge budget issues that made them do so, and given the federal aid that come in, I think it came in, I think that's unlikely. I think early childhood education and child care is something that's being talked about a lot in this campaign, and is a focus for several candidates, and even the ones who haven't made it to focus seem to be in favor of expanding it.

Brian: By the way, on putting solar panels on your brownstone, a listener tweets, "Rules of solar panel, private citizen cannot buy solar panels, and have off the grid battery system, must go through one of the state-funded solar panel companies, and the power generated goes back to the grid. It's really ridiculous. Many contracts are 25 years." I can't vouch for that being entirely accurate, but that's what a listener says the rules are, and why they don't like it. Thank you for tweeting that in.

We're almost out of time. I want to get to one thing. Nobody called with a COVID question. I'm curious, Sally how you see COVID as a factor in this race, because there may not be much virus left to manage after they take office. There will obviously be economic recovery to manage, but maybe, hopefully, not much virus left to manage, or there could be a new winter surge when they are sworn in on New Year's Day. How does future-looking COVID play into people's decisions or what the candidates are choosing to talk about?

Sally: It's a great question. I think that you're right. Hopefully, by the time this election happens on June 22nd, the vaccination rates will be even higher and the city will be better off than it is today, and certainly by January 1st, when the next mayor takes office. I think that the COVID voter, so to speak, or the voter with COVID front of mind, I would imagine, would be looking for a candidate who's talking about revitalizing New York City, bringing back tourism, bringing back the economy. The Broadway reopening is big. Dealing with the schools question, the remote schooling, which has been, perhaps, the biggest or the most wide-ranging fallout from COVID, after obviously, the health concerns.

The candidate who's most closely publicly aligned with that is definitely Andrew Yang. I would just offer that I think for a lot of people, the rise in crime is a big issue, and that's, as I mentioned earlier, why I think we're seeing Eric Adams on the upswing in the last few polls. Which of those two issues, which pretty consistently poll as the two biggest issues in the race, which of those two is more important for more voters? I don't know the answer to that, or else I guess someone would hire me to run their campaign, but I think those are the major issues.

They're intertwined, of course. The messaging from a candidate is different because how much can you say in a 30-second ad, or in a 1-minute answer on a debate stage, but they're intertwined. There's a rise in gun violence, and that is an issue for a lot of people. I think Eric Adams is trying to position himself as the answer to that problem. To your first question, I think it's the comeback from COVID, more so than the immediate. Unless there is a surge, I think it's the economic recovery that will be the biggest issue for people.

Brian: It's interesting how these issues all overlap with each other. Some of the education-related calls we got, one was about police in the schools, so that obviously overlaps with one of the things you were just talking about. Another one had to do with disability, access in the schools, the community gardens, climate intersects with the housing issues. We could go down the list from there.

Ben, last question, education, which is one of my three topic areas, is such a vast topic, and different parents and teachers have so many various concerns. I wonder if you can give me just a top-line headline? I know it's so hard with eight candidates, but what kinds of education platforms are really breaking out as campaign signature items, and reflecting what they see is of the most concern to parents and teachers?

Ben: I think some of that might diverge. Andrew Yang is trying clearly to speak to parents who are frustrated about the pace of school reopening, or the quality of school reopening. Scott Stringer got the teacher's endorsement. He's talking about adding a second teacher to every K-5 classroom. Maya Wiley's talking about adding teachers to the classrooms, too. Eric Adams is talking about year-round education, and to one of the caller's points, he's talking about expanding things related to trade schools, and other candidates are definitely talking about education as well.

I'll just say, I think on education, and it goes back to the public health question as well, there's such a seeming yearning for someone to run the city better than Bill de Blasio. I know that's not true in every community, but I think among the people who've been paying close attention for a while, and even the general public, when it comes to things like reopening schools, and that's where these issues do converge. Few voters are single-issue voters, and they get a feel for the candidates and decide who they like on a hodgepodge of personal characteristics and their views on issues.

I think that's where whatever these issues we're talking about, even the solar panel thing, about someone who can run the city better, where someone would need to go through all those hoops to put solar panels on their roofs, is something that's definitely a through line of this race.

Brian: I'll just add, as an education question that didn't come up here today, but I imagine might be a hot button. A listener via Twitter asks, "What will the candidates do to fix our schools in an equitable way that does not penalize kids at the specialized schools? The current throw away the baby with the bathwater approach, is attempting to achieve equality by bringing everybody down."

Obviously, a lot of people will disagree with the premise of that question, but that's exactly why it's a hot button question that they may need to address. I think they have different positions on that. By the way, the Twitter user who wrote that question in has the Twitter handle, Part Owner of the Secret Space Laser. That's going to be the last word, with Ben Max, executive editor of Gotham Gazette and co-host of the Max & Murphy, New York City affairs podcast, and Sally Goldenberg, who is the City Hall bureau chief for Politico New York. Thank you both.

Sally: Thank you.

Ben: Thanks, Brian.

Brian: Listeners, one more time. We're inviting you to propose a question for next Thursday night's WNYC, New York One, The City, mayoral primary debate in which I will be one of the questionnaires. I'm supposed to develop questions on climate, education, and public health. We're inviting you to submit proposals for me to develop questions from. We just did our on-air segment about that, and you have until noon tomorrow to submit via Twitter, use the hashtag, Ask the Next Mayor. Twitter, use the hashtag, Ask the Next Mayor, or send an email with your proposed question to blshow@wnyc.org and also use the subject line, so we'll see it among all the mail that we got. Subject line, Ask the Next Mayor, email blshow@wnyc.org.

 

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