Personality

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani knows how to get eyes on a press conference. Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

Reporters are sent all over New York City and state to cover elected officials. From a busy highway to the bowels of the subway, the press corps needs to make sure to catch all quotable moments from the governor, mayor, members of Congress and local elected officials. While location preference is highly subjective, the City & State team – with the help of legendary press conference attendee, CBS News’ Marcia Kramer – rounded up some of the best and worst spots. We unscientifically rated eight locations on a scale of one (worst) to five (best) microphones.

Prospect Park Zoo

Rating: Five microphones

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has a penchant for very literal press conference locations, stayed on theme for an announcement about securing restitution from the food delivery app HungryPanda in front of the red panda exhibit at the Prospect Park Zoo. Sadly, the red pandas declined comment.

Eric Adams’ Brooklyn brownstone

Rating: Five microphones

Who needs “MTV Cribs” or Vogue? We have our own 73 questions with Eric Adams. In 2021, the then-mayoral hopeful let the press corps into his Brooklyn brownstone in an attempt to prove that he did in fact live there. The press got up close and personal with his home, and even got a look inside his fridge.

City Hall rotunda

Rating: Four microphones

Sitting right at the entryway of New York City Hall lies the majestic rotunda. Though it’s not one of Mamdani’s favorite locations so far, it’s a convenient (and visually striking) venue used by both sides of City Hall. This is one of the better (if a bit familiar) locations, so long as no one tries to take away reporters’ chairs.

Million Dollar Staircase

Rating: Four microphones

While its construction actually cost $1.5 million in the late 1800s, the gorgeous four-story grand staircase in the state Capitol is a great location to do a press conference. So says City & State’s Rebecca C. Lewis: “The echoes aren’t bad. It’s a really good spot until there are three other competing press conferences at the non-prime parts of the stairs.”

Floating on the Hudson River

Rating: Two microphones 

Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a thing for out-of-the-box press conference locales. In 2018, he hosted the press corps on a boat on the Hudson River to give an update on the construction of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. The Kramer consensus? “Those were difficult. We’re going under the bridge and there’s cars and he’s screaming to be heard,” she said.

Filling potholes on Southern Boulevard in Albany

Rating: Two microphones

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a plan to fill potholes by … filling in potholes herself! While politicians love to get their hands dirty for a photo op, we question the decision to do so on a fairly busy roadway.

On the subway tracks

Rating: One microphone

Why do press announcements on a boring subway platform when you can instead go into the bowels of the system? Kramer recalled a press conference that Cuomo held at a fork on the subway tracks deep below the Columbus Circle station. “It was terrifying,” Kramer said. “It was noisy, it was dark and it was the middle of the summer. We’re standing in the middle and some trains are going to the left and some are going to the right.”

City Hall steps in the summer

Rating: One microphone (zero in summer)

City Hall’s granite steps and bluestone pavers in the summer reflect the heat of a thousand suns. A common place for organizers and protesters to gather before they speak in front of the City Council, Kramer said the steps are a strategic choice to reflect power and legitimacy. On the other hand … been there, done that.