By MOHAMED FARGHALY

mfarghaly@queensledger.com

Zellnor Myrie still rides the subway—not as a campaign prop, but because it’s how he’s always gotten around. One recent evening, as he waited on a platform, a fellow rider recognized him. There were no cameras, no staffers, just a brief exchange and a quiet thank-you. “That’s the kind of interaction that keeps me grounded,” Myrie says. Now a State Senator and one of New York City’s leading mayoral candidates, Myrie is running on a promise to rebuild a city that feels increasingly out of reach for working families. His campaign is rooted in the everyday experiences of New Yorkers — shaped by the same commutes, rent hikes, and after-school pickups — and driven by bold, progressive solutions to make the city more affordable, more just, and more livable for all.

Born and raised in a rent-regulated apartment in Brooklyn to Costa Rican immigrant parents, Myrie is hoping to ride a wave of progressive momentum from Albany to City Hall. The 37-year-old state senator, a Fordham graduate and product of New York City’s public schools and after-school programs, says his lived experience gives him a clear-eyed perspective on the city’s most urgent crisis: affordability.

“I’m living the struggle,” Myrie told the Queens Ledger during a recent roundtable interview. “I have student loans like everyone else. I take the train. I know what it’s like to watch friends leave this city because they can’t afford to stay.”

Myrie, first elected to the State Senate in 2018, quickly made a name for himself as a forceful advocate for tenant protections, criminal justice reform, and gun safety. In his first legislative session, he helped pass a suite of landmark reforms, from the Reproductive Health Act to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Since then, he’s sponsored more than 60 bills that have become law, earning him praise from progressive groups and legislative colleagues alike.

Now, he’s turning that track record into a campaign for mayor — anchored by a sweeping housing proposal he calls Rebuild NYC, which aims to deliver one million new homes over the next decade.

“I am excited about this opportunity to lead the city that my parents came to 50 years ago, but that opportunity that they came for that’s slipping away for a lot of us,” Myrie said. “I want to change all of those things, and I believe that I have the record, and I’m the right person to do that at this moment.”

Under Rebuild NYC, Myrie would rezone Midtown to allow for 85,000 mixed-income units and use city tools like mandatory inclusionary housing to build and preserve 1 million homes — 700,000 new, 300,000 preserved. The plan also secures permanent revenue for the city’s public housing authority, NYCHA, and would phase out councilmember veto power over land-use projects, a long-debated political bottleneck to construction.

His passion for public service began early. “The best mayor we’ve had was La Guardia — someone who spoke his mind and fought for all New Yorkers,” he said. Myrie’s journey started with community board meetings and escalated through law school, a stint in the City Council, and finally the State Senate. 

He often thinks back to his own childhood — how a public school education, after-school programs, and a stable apartment gave him a foundation. He wants every child in New York to have that same chance. His universal after-school proposal — extending care from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. — would cost billions, but Myrie argues the tax revenue from families staying in the city would offset the price.

“As I mentioned, I’m the product of an after-school program, but you shouldn’t have to be in a neighborhood where you have a PTA that can afford this programming to be able to benefit from that,” Myrie said. “Every kid should have access to it, and it should be high quality. We cannot be a city where you cannot afford to raise a kid here.”

On public safety, Myrie walks a fine line. He proposes a stronger presence in subways, but favors reallocating officers to platforms and train cars, backed by 150 police-clinician teams. His approach to crime is deeply shaped by personal experience, including a mass shooting at a Brooklyn parade last year. He wrote the nation’s first law holding gun manufacturers accountable and was named “Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year” by Everytown for Gun Safety in 2021.

Myrie is clear-eyed about the fiscal challenges the city faces. He opposes raising property taxes unless absolutely necessary, and says the city has already missed its window to bolster reserves before federal cuts hit. But he’s firm on protecting the city’s social infrastructure: after-school care, summer youth jobs, and safe housing.

Myrie is running against seasoned insiders and political veterans but makes the case that he brings a different kind of experience — one rooted not in decades of power but in firsthand knowledge of what it takes to stay in the city.

“The same folks responsible for our current problems shouldn’t be the ones trusted to fix them,” he says. “We need to do big things again. If we could build the Empire State Building in 13 months, we can build a city people can afford to live in.”

Zellnor Myrie envisions a transformed New York City after four years under his leadership. His promise is clear: a city where every child has access to high-quality after-school programs, where every young person who seeks a summer job can find one, where people feel safe on the street and subway and where the cost of living is lower, making it more affordable for families to stay. With a focus on safety, fairness, and opportunity, Myrie’s vision is one of inclusivity and resilience, where the city’s social infrastructure is robust and accessible for all. He believes that through bold, progressive actions, New York can once again be a place where working families thrive, and where the opportunities his parents came to the city for are restored and expanded for future generations.

Courtesy Officer of Governor Kathy Hochul

By MOHAMED FARGHALY

mfarghaly@queensledger.com

New York will become the largest state in the nation to impose sweeping, bell-to-bell restrictions on smartphone use in K-12 schools under a new policy announced by Governor Kathy Hochul, marking a landmark move aimed at improving student mental health and reducing classroom distractions.

The statewide mandate, secured as part of the recently passed Fiscal Year 2026 state budget, requires all public, charter, and BOCES schools to restrict unsanctioned use of internet-enabled personal devices during the entire school day, including lunch and study hall periods. The policy goes into effect for the 2025-2026 academic year and is backed by a $13.5 million allocation to help schools implement storage solutions for student devices.

“New York was the first state to target addictive social media feeds — and now we’re the largest state to restrict smartphones in schools throughout the entire school day.” Governor Hochul said. “I know our young people succeed when they’re learning and growing, not clicking and scrolling — and that’s why New York continues to lead the nation on protecting our kids in the digital age.”

The policy mandates that parents still be provided with a way to contact their children during the school day, a move aimed at alleviating safety concerns. Schools will have the flexibility to determine how smartphones are stored, with local implementation plans required to be developed in consultation with teachers, parents, and students. The measure also prohibits policies that could lead to inequitable discipline outcomes.

“This isn’t about being anti-phone or anti-technology — it’s about being pro-childhood,” New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person said. “We’re giving students seven hours a day free from distractions so they can focus on learning, access their creativity, and make real human connections. Tackling social media and technology use as a public health issue will take continued partnership, education, and courage — and New York is ready to lead the way.”

This initiative aligns with the mission of Phone Free New York, a movement founded by Raj Goyle that advocates for protecting children from the harmful effects of smartphones and social media. Goyle emphasizes that while digital technology has transformed modern life, its unchecked use — especially among teens — has fueled a crisis in mental health, exacerbated by the pandemic. The evidence, he notes, increasingly supports that smartphones and social media are major contributors to declining youth well-being.

Courtesy Officer of Governor Kathy Hochul

New York now joins a growing list of at least nine other states that have implemented some form of school-based phone restrictions, signaling a bipartisan recognition of the issue. As Goyle highlights, this movement is not about rejecting technology outright but about ensuring that students have the freedom to learn, connect, and grow in healthier, more focused educational environments.

Hochul’s announcement follows a months-long statewide listening tour that brought together educators, students, parents, and public safety officials to assess the impact of smartphones in schools. The resulting report, More Learning, Less Scrolling: Creating Distraction-Free Schools, concluded that unrestricted access to personal devices hampers academic performance, impedes creativity, and contributes to rising mental health issues among youth.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, up to 95% of teens use social media, with more than a third reporting near-constant use. The report highlights a correlation between high social media usage and increased risks of anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and cyberbullying — concerns echoed by educators and mental health professionals across the state.

Nearly 75% of teachers surveyed in a 2023 Pew Research Center poll identified cell phone distractions as a major issue in their classrooms. Teachers and administrators who participated in the listening sessions cited increased student engagement and decreased behavioral incidents in schools that had already adopted phone-free policies.

“Smartphones are designed to be addictive in a way that makes it harder for kids to focus and learn,” Mothers Against Media Addiction Founder and Executive Director Julie Scelfo said. “As parents, we are grateful to Governor Hochul and the lawmakers who led this effort to support engaged, distraction-free learning in our schools, making New York a model for the rest of the nation. MAMA volunteers are energized by this victory — five states down, and only 45 more to go.”

In addition to the restrictions, students with documented needs — including medical conditions, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), or translation services — will be granted exceptions under the policy. Students will also continue to use school-issued devices such as laptops and tablets for educational purposes.

Courtesy Freepik

The new statewide standard builds on Hochul’s broader youth mental health agenda. In 2024, she signed the first-in-the-nation “Safe for Kids Act,” which requires parental consent for minors to access algorithm-driven social media feeds, and the New York Child Data Protection Act, prohibiting the sale of personal data from users under 18 without explicit permission.

The governor has also overseen a $1 billion statewide investment in mental health, including $20 million in startup grants for school-based mental health clinics. Since February 2024, 71 new clinic satellites have opened, with 40 located in high-needs districts, expanding the state’s network of over 1,100 school-based mental health sites.