Welcome back to 10 blocks. This week's special episode features audio from a Manhattan

Institute event with Rihon Salam episode features audio from a Manhattan Institute event with

Rihon Salam, the president of the Manhattan Institute, and Lee Zeldin, a former congressman

and the Republican gubernatorial candidate for New York in 2022.

Good evening, everyone. And thank you for coming to tonight's conversation with former Congressman Lee Zeldin,

part of our Klinski leadership series.

It's no secret to those of us gathered here that New York faces profound challenges.

With the support of Steve Klinsky, we at M.I have conveyed leading public officials and

policy intellectuals to think deeply and creatively about our city's

future. So I'd like to extend a special thank you to Mr. Klinsky for his partnership.

I'd also like to recognize our trustees Ravenel Curry and Nathan St. Amand and MI's distinguished

President Emeritus Larry Mohn, who are also with us here tonight. Thank you.

I am honored and delighted to be joined on stage by Lee Zeldon, an officer in the U.S. Army

Reserve who served with distinction in the New York State Senate and most recently in Congress,

where he developed a reputation as a dogged defender of his Long Island

constituents. And last year, Mr. Zeldon did something few thought possible. He made a general

election for governor of New York State highly competitive. In doing so, he offered a fresh new approach to expanding the conservative coalition,

and he may have changed the state's political map for years to come.

While Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points in 2020, Mr. Zeldon narrowly lost the

2022 gubernatorial election by a mere six points, receiving the highest share of the vote for a Republican

statewide candidate in 20 years. In New York City, he doubled the vote of the last GOP

gubernatorial candidate from 15 to 30 percent,

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