The Big Ugly Mess Behind New York’s Busted Budget Process

Budget season is heating up, baby! And Hell Gate is here to break it down for you. How did New York's state budget process become such a shitshow, and why should you care about what Albany's been cooking up?

First, Hell Gate co-owners Esther Wang and Max Rivlin-Nadler explore our state's labyrinthine and insanity-inducing budget process, and why we can't just "be normal" as a state. Will a newly empowered legislature mean even more chaos?

Then, we chat with Kim Phillips-Fein, professor of history at Columbia University and author of "Fear City," about Eric Adams' proposed austerity budget, his beloved "high-income earners," and the lingering impacts of the 1970s fiscal crisis.

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