NYC NOW - Midday News: NY Wind Project Reversal, Mamdani Campaigns with Ranked-Choice Strategy, and Phone Ban Coming to NY Schools

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

In a reversal, the Trump administration will allow a major wind project off Long Island to resume construction. Meanwhile, with five weeks until the Democratic mayoral primary, Zohran Mamdani becomes the first candidate to campaign using a ranked-choice strategy. Plus, starting next fall, smartphones will be banned in New York public schools. The policy, passed as part of the state budget, aims to address growing concerns about distraction and social media’s impact on students. WNYC’s Jessica Gould has the details.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, May 20th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. New York State elected officials are hailing the Trump administration's reversal that will allow construction to resume on a major wind project off the coast of Long Island. Officials say Empire Wind One, as it's known, could power half a million houses and create 1,500 unions. jobs. The U.S. Interior Department halted the project last month, saying it's reviewing Biden-era approvals for the wind farm. But Governor Kathy Hochland others lobbied the Trump administration to restore the project. They now say it's back on track. The developer,

Equinoor, says the first phase is about a third complete and cruise will finish it in 2027. With five weeks left before the Democratic mayoral primary, Zoran Mamdani is the first candidate to campaign with a ranked choice strategy. WNMAC's Bridget Bergen reports. He's asking people to donate to another candidate. In a video shared on social media, Mom Donnie asked supporters to throw a few bucks to Adrian Adams, the city council speaker.

The Democratic Socialist Assembly member who represents Astoria already maxed out what he can raise for the primary. He says he's trying to chip away its support for Andrew Cuomo. The former governor has led polls, but has never broken 50%, which means, rank choice tallies will likely determine who wins. Speaker Adams gained ground in a recent poll,

but still trails Mamdani and Cuomo. Her base includes the same moderate black voters Cuomo is courting. Analysts say Momdani's support for her could help boost his position with Adam's supporters. A Cuomo spokesperson did not comment directly on Mamdani's video. 61 and mostly sunny. Mostly sunny today, 69 wins up to 13 miles an hour. Stay tuned for more after the break. It's all things considered on WNMIC.C. I'm Sean Carlson. A smartphone ban is coming to New York's public schools starting next fall.

The ban passed as part of the state budget earlier this month. It's a response to the growing body of research that shows access to smartphones in schools is fueling an epidemic of distraction and worsening the effects of social media. WNIC's Jessica Gould is here to walk us through the details. So, Jess, listeners may have heard Governor Hulkel say this phrase in our newscasts and a lot of other places from time to time. The ban is called, quote, bell to bell. Can you just remind us what that means exactly? Sure. For the old school, bells, you know, it's arrival to dismissal.

So phones will be stored for the whole day, starting in September. All public schools have to ban smartphones, smart watches, and tablets that connect to the Internet. It includes lunch and recess, hallways, sports. Fields, dumb phones or flip phones are allowed if they're not internet enabled. And schools have to come up with storage plans, whether it's in school-wide lockers or students' individual lockers or those magnetic pouches or something else. And there also has to be a plan for parents to be able to contact kids in emergencies. Now, am I wrong in thinking that there are exceptions here, right?

Can you talk about what those are? Yeah, there are. So you can use a smartphone or internet-enabled device for specific educational purposes if your teacher says it's okay, if your school says it's okay or they want you to. Also for students who need it for their health care. So for diabetic students who use it for glucose monitoring, for translation, you know, there's all these migrant students in schools now. Many students who don't speak English or are learning English. and many teachers and students have turned to their iPhones for translation for that. Students with disabilities who have it on their IEPs, whether they need text to speech for dyslexia or an organizational app for executive functioning.

That's an exception. And then for a student who is deemed a caregiver for a family member, and that's decided on a case-by-case basis by a social worker or counselor. Jess, do educators have any concerns about those exceptions? What about parents for that matter? Yeah, they do. I heard about both parents and educators who worry a little bit about kids in these groups being singled out and maybe scrutinized a little bit more either by their classmates or by teachers who are monitoring them for using social media, which they would have access to on their

smartphones, even if that's not what they're for. And then, you know, the discipline that those kids could get when other kids who don't have their smartphones are not being disciplined in the same way. The New York City Civil Liberties Union has actually opposed this phone ban because of discipline concerns and concerns about more policing of students and disparities in the policing of students. Now kids are not supposed to be suspended for using their phones. That's actually part of the budget language.

I am so curious about what students themselves are saying about this. Do they love it? Do they hate it? I heard both, actually. I was in Union Square today talking to kids after dismissal. I'm going to play some tape from Sadie Jeffrey, who's in middle school at the Clinton school. They already started using magnetic pouches, and she does not like it. And I felt like safer too because I had like my own phone like in my bag and I know that it's safe.

And I know that like if there was emergency or something with like my family, then they could like call or text me immediately. And I could receive that. Her friend Mia said, if anything, kids are actually more inclined now. to rebel and break into their pouches, which she said many kids do. They cost $25 per pouch if the kids report them as broken. And she said many don't report them and then just have broken pouches where they can access their phones. But their other friend, Elise Constantino, said she's in favor of the pouches at her school

and she thinks a ban is the way to go. And I know from experience that like if I have my phone, I tend to go on it a lot. So I think that having your phone locked up can mean better, like, social experiences. And it's really the socializing that I heard most, both from students and teachers, that they think has been affected. Kids with their heads down and kind of a hush, an eerie hush at lunch and in hallways when it should be boisterous. But Elise did say it gets a little crowded when everybody's waiting to get their pouches unlocked. So a bit of a logistical hurdle. Yeah, really interesting.

So Jess, what are you going to be looking at as the nation's largest school system implements such a big change? Schools are still figuring out the details. The city is still reviewing the legislation. City Hall said Mayor Adams has repeatedly voiced his support for a smartphone ban, saying that, you know, it's bad for students' mental health, but he is reviewing the funding and the details. Teachers say the devil is in the details with this one because of the various options for storage, whether it's, you know, cabinets and then who's going to. collect the phones and hand them out. And if it's pouches, what happens if they break? Who pays for it? What happens if phones break? There needs to be clarity around discipline and consequences. But overall, as you mentioned before, the ban has a lot of support. It's backed by polls where a majority of parents said they're in favor of it. The statistics on mental health declining alongside the rise

in smartphones have been pretty clear. And teachers say kids are distracted in class. The pull of phones is too strong for all of us. It's not fair to ask them to try to regulate themselves, and it's stifling their growth. It's WNMIC Education Reporter, Jessica Gould. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thanks for listening.

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