NYU Wagner Welcomes NY1 Political Anchor Errol Louis as the Distinguished Visiting Urbanist for Fall 2021

NYU Wagner is delighted to announce that Errol Louis, Spectrum News NY1 political anchor and host of “Inside City Hall,” will be the Distinguished Visiting Urbanist for the Fall, 2021, semester, and will teach a course in Urban Affairs.

“We’re tremendously excited to be bringing into the school a brilliant journalist and thinker whose range extends from reporting on New York City politics and neighborhoods to exploring policy at all levels of government,” said Sherry Glied, dean of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University.

NYU Wagner's Distinguished Visiting Urbanist position is funded generously by The Rice Family Foundation. It was developed so that Wagner students and faculty could learn from outstanding urban policy leaders who have deep experience as practitioners in the field. the Distinguished Visiting Urbanist spends a semester at Wagner, teaching a short course, meeting with students and faculty, collaborating on scholarly publications and projects, participating in and leading seminars and events, and otherwise enriching the academic life at Wagner by contributing the invaluable perspective of one who has spent a career on the frontlines of urban governance. 

Errol Louis’s more than 10-year work as political anchor at NY1 reflects a lifelong exploration of city, state, and federal policies through the lens of New York City’s diverse neighborhoods and nonprofit organizations. 

The son of a police officer and bookkeeper, Louis cofounded the Central Brooklyn Federal Credit Union in the spring of 1993, and taught urban studies at Pratt Institute. In 1997, he challenged the incumbent in the Democratic primary for New York City Council, District 35, trying again in 2001.

Louis became associate editor of The New York Sun and in 2004 joined the New York Daily News. He also wrote a column, "Commerce and Community," for Our Time Press, a weekly newspaper based in Bedford Stuyvesant, and served on the editorial board.

In 2008, Louis became host of the Morning Show, a three-hour talk program on radio station WWRL. The Village Voice named him the city's best newspaper columnist and radio show host two years later.

In addition to his work as a NY1 host, he is the Director of the Urban Reporting program at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a CNN contributor and has made frequent appearances.  

He holds a B.A. in government from Harvard, an M.A. in political science from Yale, and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.