Brian Weir on WNYC, veteran city politics reporter Ben Max is with us now.

Among other things, we'll get in, and we'll get them to weigh in on one pretty big story that you

might have missed, because it seemed pretty technical, but it's breaking today, and it has big

implications. Mayor Eric Adams has put together a commission with the power to fundamentally

remake New York City's government and make big changes to the city charter. That's like the

Constitution of New York City. This charter revision commission was announced and formed quickly,

and it's largely composed of Adams' allies and donors. The move has been described by a group of

civic leaders as a power play, and it's drawn criticism from the city council. It's also in competition

with some changes that the city council wants to make that other people are describing as a

power grab against the mayor by them. So we'll get into the details with Ben. And we'll also

talk with him about some of the notable successes of Mayor Eric Adams' administration so far,

despite low approval ratings and ongoing controversies. He highlights in an article Mayor Adams' ambitious

city of yes plan hailed as the most significant pro-housing zoning reform since 1961, as well as

his collaborative efforts with Governor Kathy Hokel,

which have led to important legislative wins in Albany. Ben Max, host of the Max Politics

podcast, an executive editor and program director at New York Law School Center for New York City

Law. His recent piece in The Daily News was what Mayor Adams is doing well on.

Ben, always good to have you. Welcome back to WNYC. Thanks for having me, Brian. Good to be with you.

So do little civics 101 for everybody. What's the Charter Revision Commission?

A Charter Revision Commission is a panel put together by the mayor or in rare

cases it can be put together by a law passed by the city council to review basically the city's

constitution and really the fundamental laws and rules governing city government.

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