Former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Inner Circle President Samantha Lieberman, LaGuardia President Kenneth Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for LaGuardia Community College’s new Inner Circle archive collection on Thursday. Photo: Shane O’Brien
March 27, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards visited LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC) in Long Island City on Thursday morning to celebrate the launch of the college’s new archive collection, which preserves the history of the Inner Circle—a 102-year-old organization of New York City journalists famous for its annual musical political roasts.
De Blasio and Richards joined LaGuardia President Kenneth Adams and Inner Circle President Samantha Lieberman at LaGuardia’s Building E at 45-50 Van Dam St. Thursday morning to celebrate the launch of the new collection at the LaGuardia & Wagner Archives.
The Inner Circle, an American musical parody group comprised of journalists, bloggers, and media personalities from the New York metro area, typically hosts an annual two-act performance lampooning local, state, and national politics and cultural issues, with a particular focus on the incumbent mayor. The annual roast traditionally features a “rebuttal” by the mayor, with numerous mayors taking part in the century-old tradition.
Photo from the office of QBP Richards
De Blasio said that the new Inner Circle collection at LaGuardia will provide researchers, scholars, and students with a fascinating insight into political issues that have impacted various mayoral administrations and city councils throughout history.
Members of the Inner Circle, meanwhile, said that the collection preserves the history of journalism in New York City, keeping records of famous publications that no longer exist.
The newly launched collection features journals, show tickets, seating lists, scripts, photos, and other memorabilia, as well as digitized videos of Inner Circle shows dating back to the 1990s.
LAGCC President Adams said Thursday that the new collection includes detailed illustrations created by “incredible cartoonists” that capture the humor, good nature, and resilience of the city’s elected officials.
He noted that the archives are constantly used by researchers, writers, authors, investigators, and individuals researching New York City’s political history. The college encourages its 25,000 students to use the archives to understand New York’s civic and political history.
“(We) will make sure that this Inner Circle collection is connected to our students,” Adams said during the launch event. “That our students, faculty and staff have access to it and use it in all the work they do to know and learn about the great history of New York City.”
De Blasio praised LaGuardia for preserving the collection and shining a light on the various periods of history that New Yorkers have lived through, adding that the Inner Circle’s annual roast is arguably more important than ever, emphasizing the importance of being able to make light-hearted fun at politicians.
“It’s an incredibly complicated time in the history of this city and particularly this nation, and a lot of people have lost their sense of humor,” de Blasio said. “A lot of people have lost their ability to not only listen to each other but to, once in a while, take it down a notch and see each other as human beings.”
The former mayor said the annual roast provided a “real snapshot” of life each year, serving as “an incredible vantage point” on everything that happened in the city.
Photo from the office of QBP Richards
Richards likewise said the Inner Circle’s upcoming annual roast, which is scheduled to take place in Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Ballroom on Saturday, April 5, will take on an increased significance in 2025.
“It’s going to be more impactful this year than I think you (realize) because people really do need a laugh,” Richards said. “And it is important that even through dialog, through debate, that we’re able to all be in a room as adults, as adults, because that’s what’s missing in Washington DC.”
Lieberman, on the other hand, described the launch of the new collection as a “momentous day,” stating that the Inner Circle has “lampooned mayors and politicians and powerful people in the city” for the past 102 years.
“It (the Inner Circle) has really pulled back the veil on what’s really going on in the city for all of these years, and I hope that it’s going to be valuable to researchers and students in the future to see what was really going on in the city,” Lieberman said. “We’re all so happy that someone saw the value in all of these artifacts and took the time and care to catalog them so thoughtfully for the future.”
Richards also praised LaGuardia for welcoming so many immigrant students, who account for roughly one-third of the college’s 25,000 students. He added that he has spoken to several CUNY presidents, who have noted that students are not showing up for school out of fear of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies.
Photo from the office of QBP Richards
“There’s been a chill effect in our borough,” Richards said at Thursday’s launch event. “People are afraid to go out. People are afraid to go get health care, help, and assistance. People are afraid to come to school.”
He pointed to the upcoming Inner Circle event as an opportunity for people to come together and share a laugh during a difficult moment.
Adams said LaGuardia is doing everything in its power to ensure that students are safe, describing the college as an “obstacle removal business” that eliminates barriers to entry for its students.
He also outlined plans for the continued growth of the college’s archives, stating that LaGuardia boasts an abundance of safe, climate-controlled space.
“We need to remember the past and we need reference points about how things were done by others before us,” Adams said. “We’re not starting everything new today and so you have to bring history forward.
“And so LaGuardia can help preserve history and bring it forward for students.”
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