Putting Kids Before Profits. Supporters say the bill closes a real gap — the existing smartphone ban only covers personal devices, leaving school-issued screens largely unregulated. The FOCUS Act would bring long-overdue oversight to the ed tech industry and hold companies accountable for what they put in front of students.
This week's moments Tue August 25Live
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
TodayGrocery Stores
Ethnic Grocery Owners Sue to Block Mamdani's City-Run Store Plan
A newly formed coalition of ethnic grocery store owners and business groups sued New York City to stop Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plan to open five city-run grocery stores — one per borough — that would sell staples at 30% below market prices, arguing it would devastate small, minority-owned businesses.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
TodayTransit
Mamdani Bets $4 Billion to Finally Fix the Crumbling BQE
Mayor Mamdani unveiled a $4 billion, 10-year plan to rehabilitate the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway's deteriorating triple-cantilever section. The plan uses temporary bypass roads to keep traffic flowing during construction, avoids federal funding, and aims to extend the structure's life to 2080 — but faces pushback from both neighbors and highway opponents.
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NY Governor Kathy Hochul
4 days agoData Centers
Hochul Walks a Tightrope Between AI Growth and Worker Protection
Gov. Kathy Hochul is navigating a political minefield: she paused new hyperscale data centers to protect ratepayers, while simultaneously holding worker roundtables on AI's impact. Critics say she's scaring off business; supporters say she's finally putting people before profit.
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President Donald Trump
7 days agoImmigration
Trump's Sweeping Crackdown Now Targets Legal Immigration Too
The Trump administration is restricting every major category of legal immigration — from family sponsorships to work visas to diversity lotteries. Analysts project a 33–50% drop in legal immigrants by the end of Trump's term, with major economic consequences on the horizon.
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NY Governor Kathy Hochul
TodayICE
Hochul Backs Program That Pays Local Cops to Help Border Patrol
A federal program called Operation Stonegarden pays New York sheriff's deputies to work with Border Patrol. Records show deputies have helped detain at least 24 immigrants since 2023 — even as Governor Hochul champions a law meant to stop local police from aiding immigration enforcement.
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NY Governor Kathy Hochul
6 days agoICE
Hochul's ICE Ban Faces Defiance as Seven Agencies Hold Out
Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law banning local police agreements with ICE, but seven New York agencies have not yet dissolved those pacts as an August 25 deadline approaches. Several holdouts have political ties to Hochul's Republican rival, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
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President Donald Trump
6 days agoICE
Trump Picks Lance Schroyer Who Led One of America's Harshest ICE Crackdowns
President Trump has nominated Lance Schroyer, a figure tied to Oklahoma's sweeping immigration enforcement operation — one of the toughest crackdowns on unauthorized immigrants in U.S. history — to lead ICE, signaling how far the administration intends to push its deportation agenda.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
1 day agoTransit
Mamdani's Free Bus Push Blamed for MTA's Millions in Lost Fares
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is standing by his campaign promise of fare-free buses, even as MTA data shows a $35.7 million revenue shortfall and nearly half of bus riders now skipping the $3 fare. Transit officials and union leaders say his rhetoric is making the problem worse.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
4 days agoHousing
Mamdani Sets Bold 700,000-Home Target to Fix NYC's Historic Housing Crisis
The Mamdani administration released a landmark report saying New York City must build 700,000 new homes over the next decade — the most ambitious housing target in modern city history — while pushing even low-density neighborhoods that have long resisted new construction to do their share.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
5 days agoCrime & Safety
Mayor Mamdani's NYPD Keeps Its Ties to Israel Intact
Despite his vocal criticism of Israel, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has done little to change the NYPD's deep institutional ties to Israeli law enforcement — including a liaison officer stationed in Israel, joint training programs, and contracts with Israeli companies.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
5 days agoCrime & Safety
Mamdani Accused of "Broken Windows" Policing He Promised to End
Criminal justice advocates say Mayor Zohran Mamdani is still enforcing "broken windows" policing despite his campaign pledges to end it. New data shows low-level arrests remain as high as — or higher than — they were under former Mayor Eric Adams, with people of color making up 93% of those brought to court.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
6 days agoUnions
Mamdani Sues to Block $10K Bonus for NYC's Lowest-Paid School Workers
Mayor Zohran Mamdani let a City Council bill granting NYC paraprofessionals a $10,000 one-time bonus become law without his signature — then announced a lawsuit to block it, saying pay raises must go through collective bargaining, not legislation.
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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
7 days agoTaxes & Budget
Mamdani's Team Skips Council Hearing on Pied-à-Terre Tax Rollout
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration refused to appear at a City Council oversight hearing on the rollout of New York City's new pied-à-terre tax — a surcharge on high-value second homes. Council members read 11 pages of questions aloud to empty chairs, intensifying tensions between City Hall and the Council.
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Borough President Vito Fossella
7 days agoLocal
Fossella Calls Congestion Pricing Study 'Nonsense' as SI Traffic Worsens
A new NYC Health Department report found congestion pricing did not improve air quality in Manhattan despite an 11% drop in car trips. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, a lawsuit plaintiff against the toll, called the findings proof the program was always a "money grab."
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Council Member Joann Ariola
4 days ago911
Ariola's "Minutes Matter" Bill to Warn of Ambulance Delays
Queens Council Member Joann Ariola introduced the "Minutes Matter Bill," which would require the city to send emergency alerts whenever FDNY EMS has more than 25 pending ambulance dispatches — a threshold that was shattered when over 700 calls piled up in recent months.
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Assemblymember Rodneyse Hermelyn
1 day agoParty Politics
Brooklyn Dem Boss Rewrites Rules to Stay in Power
Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn proposed dramatically expanding who votes in the party's upcoming leadership election — a move her opponents say is designed to nullify their June primary wins and block a challenge to her chairmanship.
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Senator Andrew Gounardes
TodayAI
Gounardes Pushes to Limit Screens and AI in New York Classrooms
New York State Sen. Andrew Gounardes introduced the FOCUS Act, which would set strict, age-based limits on screens and AI in public schools, ban social media and chatbots from school devices, and require ed tech companies to prove their products actually help students learn.
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Senator Jessica Ramos
4 days agoEthical Issues
Ramos Accused of Double-Billing Travel to Campaign and Taxpayers
New York state Senator Jessica Ramos is accused of charging the same travel expenses — hotel stays and train tickets — to both her campaign account and to taxpayers, according to records and former staff interviewed by The New York Times. The allegations span back to at least 2021.
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Representative Hakeem Jeffries
5 days agoLocal
Jeffries Rejects Medicare for All and DSA Agenda
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries went on Meet the Press and clearly stated he does not support Medicare for All or the DSA's agenda. His remarks highlight a growing split between Democratic leadership and the party's progressive base ahead of the 2026 midterms.
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Council Member Amanda Farías
7 days agoLocal
Farías Backs $25M Plan to Green and Open Hunts Point Fish Market
Councilmember Amanda Farías joined Speaker Julie Menin and fellow Bronx Councilmember Justin Sanchez to announce $25 million in city funding for the Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point — targeting cleaner refrigeration, a public waterfront walkway, and new local economic opportunities.
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Signal made visible
Heat map · 7 daysPixels are NYC's ratings over the last week. You are the yellow dot.