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Like many, Sally Goldenberg, who covers New York City politics and government for The New York Times, got her start in journalism covering school boards at a weekly newspaper, hers in New Jersey.
She may swim in a bigger pond now, but her guiding principles, she said, are the same.
“I’m trying to figure out who has power, who’s trying to get power, how they’re using power, who’s paying for what, who’s trying to hide a money trail,” said Ms. Goldenberg, who left Politico and joined The Times in January to report on the administration of New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
In her more than two decades of covering politics, largely in New York, she has broken some memorable stories, like the neglect of public housing by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s withholding of vaccines from New York City amid a spat with Mr. de Blasio during the pandemic.
In her first four months at The Times, she has published scoops about how many of Mr. Mamdani’s wealthy and well-connected former foes are plotting their climb back to political power, as well as the mayor’s decision to walk away from a campaign promise to expand a program for struggling tenants.
In an interview, she discussed how she has built her network of sources over more than two decades and the story lines she’ll be watching in the coming year. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
At what point did you realize you wanted to go into journalism?
I worked on my high school newspaper, and there was a tragic stampede at a nightclub in the city where I grew up. Several people died, and we covered it in the paper. I just remember thinking that it seemed like very important work to chronicle what was happening around you.
You started your career covering school boards at a weekly newspaper in New Jersey. What did you learn that you still use today?
It’s all the same. Politics on a school board is the same as the New York City Council, and a town of 1,200 people is the same as Congress. The animating factors of politics are largely the same: special interests, money, power, how people use power. It really doesn’t change all that much.
How do you approach building your network of sources?
I view it like watering a plant. You need your sources to keep coming to you. You need them to keep trusting you. So it’s not a one-and-done thing. I just cast a really wide net. I try to talk to people in City Hall, but also anyone I can think of who talks to Mamdani. I have a list of sources I want to meet with every month. It’s extremely long. I probably get through about half of it, and I just keep it going.
How do you get a scoop? Do you just ask for one?
The best way to get a scoop is to have good instincts. Maybe three-quarters of the time, a good scoop comes because something was gnawing at me. There are definitely times where someone calls you and has a hot scoop or a handout, but most of the time it happens when something seems amiss to me, and I start picking at it. Good stories really come more from your own instincts and your own knowledge.
What’s the first news source you check in the morning?
For as long as I’ve worked in New York, the cover of The New York Post has helped set the agenda. Politicians react to it, often negatively, but they’re reacting no matter what. It’s just extremely influential.
What advice do you have for young journalists who want to cover politics?
Nowadays, in this hyperpartisan era we’re living in with declining trust in media, it’s harder than it used to be to convince people that you’re objective. But I still believe in that principle, and I approach the work that way. I talk to everybody on all sides of the spectrum, and I try to include all perspectives in how I decide what to cover and how to cover it.
What story lines will you be watching in the coming year?
I’m trying to figure out what sort of a politician Mamdani will be. The palpable excitement around him is understandable, but it’s mismatched with the actual power of the mayoralty, which is not really a job where you can fundamentally change capitalism. You can’t really weaken corporations. He’s not a federal official. And so how he keeps his base energized and animated, and how he actually does attempt to change life in New York with the limited tools he has, is very interesting to me.
What is an undercovered story in New York politics?
I’m very interested in labor unions. I grew up in a union household. They’re so politically powerful in New York, both the public sector ones and the private sector ones. So I’m really interested in covering Mamdani’s relationship with labor and how labor is influencing New York.
Sarah Bahr writes about culture and style for The Times.
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