NY takes aim at social media's effect on minors

Plus: Sleep No More's 13-year run [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [NY government gears up for fight against TikTok, Facebook and other social media giants]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☁️ Cloudy, with highs in the upper 30s. It's Tuesday in New York, where the governor, attorney general and state lawmakers all agree: Social media is a public health hazard, particularly for kids. Here's how the state hopes to [protect minors from the most addictive elements]( of TikTok, Instagram and other platforms. And here's what else is happening: - Assaults in the subway last year hit their highest figure since 1996, according to the NYPD, though [overall subway crime dropped]( from 2022 to 2023. - As part of the MTA's effort to crack down on fare evasion, the emergency exit gates at three subway stations [will soon take 15 seconds to open](. - The City Council today is expected to [override Mayor Eric Adams’ veto]( of a bill requiring police to document low-level encounters. - More than 130,000 New York City public school parents are [missing out on free money for their kids' college funds]( — and critics say a cumbersome enrollment process could be the cause. - The city’s largest police union on Monday made arguments in court to [block a settlement]( that would require the NYPD to overhaul how it responds to protests. - The Passaic River in New Jersey has been [severely overflowing during rainstorms]( for decades, prompting officials to consider building a flood wall, "desnagging" the river, raising nearby houses, paying people to move away or some combination of the above. - Queens prosecutors have [indicted two brothers on 130 counts]( for allegedly possessing a stash of improvised explosive devices, homemade guns and a handwritten "hit list" targeting law enforcement, celebrities and others. - Under a new Biden administration program, immigrants with expired legal status who've been in New York for years are getting work permits in exchange for [reporting to the feds about exploitative employers](. - Is the planned multi-million-dollar Chinatown arch a wasteful piece of "chinoiserie Orientalism," or a marker that "celebrates that [Chinese Americans] are here, and we'll be here forever?" The neighborhood is [a bit divided](. - The [Curling National Championships]( are currently going down at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey. - Williamsburg: [You changed](. - A Pog, a slammer, an Oscar Meyer Little Smokies wrapper and some Lion King merch were among the contents of a time capsule from 1994 that someone found [in the crawl space of a Missouri house](. - Scotland is ramping up its effort to find a monkey that [escaped from a wildlife park in the Highlands](. - Over on TikTok, people are lighting cakes [on fire](. - Have some time for a game? [Play]( our mini local news crossword. - Sign up for reminders when we publish new games [here](. [“That's the goal, to frustrate folks who might want to be using [the emergency exit] as a matter of convenience, where you have a perfectly good turnstile.”]( - NYC Transit President Richard Davey on the plan to [MAKE EMERGENCY EXIT GATES AT THREE SUBWAY STATIONS TAKE 15 SECONDS TO OPEN]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [At Brooklyn's Palestinian-owned eatery Ayat, a Shabbat dinner and discourse around war]( Hundreds of Jews, Arabs, and others grieving the war in Gaza and Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israelis said the gathering brought people together — though the night was not without discomfort. ['A word-of-mouth phenomenon': 'Sleep No More' producer looks back on show's 13-year run]( "Sleep No More," the immersive theater experience inspired by Shakespeare's "Macbeth," is set to end on March 28 after more than 5,000 performances. [We Rely On Your Support]( [How the MTA could get back billions it lost during the pandemic]( Did COVID cause "property damage" to the subway? And if so, is the MTA owed an insurance payout? This column from our "On The Way" transit newsletter looks at a lawsuit that could help the transit agency recoup billions of dollars. [Making life in NYC less noisy: How to quiet your home]( Just because the city never sleeps doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.