Social Media, Congestion Pricing and Me
A sampling of the big news this week, as well as a professional update
New York plans to prohibit social-media companies from using algorithms to steer content to children without parental consent under a tentative agreement reached by state lawmakers, news of which I broke last Monday in The Wall Street Journal.
The legislation is aimed at preventing social-media companies from serving automated feeds to minors. Critics say the feeds lead children to violent and sexually explicit content. The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved on Thursday and Friday, also would prohibit platforms from sending minors notifications during overnight hours without parental consent.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the measure would make social media less addictive, adding that heavy usage by teens has contributed to higher instances of mental illness. Industry groups have raised questions about the constitutionality of the proposal and said media literacy would have a more immediate impact. They have won court injunctions blocking regulations in other states from taking effect.
This may sound familiar because it is. As a refresher, here’s what I wrote about it in February.
CONGESTION LEADS TO SNEEZE: Hochul is pumping the brakes on congestion pricing, my colleague Joseph De Avila wrote last week in the WSJ.
Hochul said Wednesday she directed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to indefinitely delay the June 30 start of the plan to charge a $15 toll on vehicles traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan. On Friday, she walked back from the “indefinitely” language to say this is a “temporary pause.”
The nation’s first congestion-pricing plan was signed into law in 2019 by the last guy, and was intended in part to fund public transportation. The toll plan has faced opposition from unions, business owners and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Hochul said she delayed the plan from going into effect because she was concerned about the rising cost of living and New York’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Office attendance in Manhattan remains below prepandemic levels, and the borough still faces a commercial vacancy rate of over 20%, she said.
There has been some blistering coverage from people who aren’t buying Hochul’s reasoning. One headline in the New York Times asked, “Does Gov. Hochul, a Buffalo Native, Really Get New York City?”
And here’s the lead quote (and setup) in an NYT story that went online Sunday:
Ms. Hochul’s announcement was particularly jarring given her past championing of the plan. Indeed, as recently as this year, the governor stressed the need to get vehicles off the road — a dissonance that has fed a sense of duplicity and a feeling of betrayal among those who considered her an ally.
On Friday, Jon Orcutt, a longtime congestion pricing proponent and a consultant for Reinvent Albany, described Ms. Hochul’s about-face as “a fundamental sense of betrayal, like, inner-core rock bottom.”
“It would be one thing if she inherited the thing and said, ‘This isn’t my priority,’” he added. “But we got to, not the 11th hour, but 10 seconds before midnight.”
Stay tuned on this, folks. I expect the story will continue to have legs.
A PROFESSIONAL UPDATE: Those who regularly read this newsletter know that for nearly the last three years I’ve been a regional correspondent for the WSJ, balancing my reportage on New York politics with other stories from around the Empire State, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Last month that changed as part of an organizational update at the paper. I’ve been moved to the national political team, based in Washington, but will remain located in Upstate America. There will still be stories about New York, but I will also be reporting about the forces shaping our political discourse in places around the country.
I’m excited for this new challenge. I’m saddened, though, that it came about as part of a restructuring in which some of my fellow reporters were laid off. Among them was Erin Ailworth, with whom I’ve collaborated for the past year in covering New York stories. She made a list of everyone affected — they’re all talented, hard-working, generous and generally amazing colleagues. If you’re reading this and are in a position to help them land their next act, please do.
THE QUESTION: What was the first major city to adopt congestion pricing?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: “Sterling’s most famous son is probably Charles Dow. He moved to New York and in 1882 co-founded Dow Jones & Co., which developed a famous industrial average and still produces the world’s greatest newspaper.”*
* While I’m happy the Journal’s editors let the above paragraph into print, Vielkind Style maintains that the Glens Falls Chronicle is the world’s greatest newspaper.