Recode: How New York City earned its reputation for being tough on tech

March 5, 2019

Originally published in Recode

But a rising number of local politicians, weary of the influence tech titans have wielded in places like San Francisco and Seattle — with their skyrocketing costs of living and ever-widening income inequality — are making a sustained push to draft and enforce stronger regulations on the industry. While they say they welcome the high-paying jobs and innovation that tech can bring to the city, they’re cautious to make sure those gains are enjoyed by a wide swath of New Yorkers, rather than a smaller number of highly skilled technical workers.

“I’ve spoken to political leaders on the West Coast about what the tech industry has done to places like San Francisco,” said New York State Senator Michael Gianaris, a leading figure in opposition to the Amazon deal. “They’ve rolled over these cities — completely displaced the people who have lived there and turned it into an area of great wealth inequality, sent rents soaring, with very little consideration for protecting the communities. We’re learning from them.”