Fees on one time services are not what this is targeting. This legislation is not meant to address that, and wouldn't apply to that.

They are going after recurring billing (that's what the headline means by "subscription"). It mentions things like gyms, online subscriptions etc.

It would be pretty wild if they had managed to get service fees at restaurants when they were not at all targeting service fees, restaurants or one time in person purchases.

At least in CA they need to disclose them now. Previously some restaurants would just hit you with a surprise mandatory tip.

> which is bullshit because the drip pricing that most people complain about is the X% "service charges" and "lifestyle fees" that restaurants have at the bottom of their menu in small print.

I don't think I go to the same restaurants as everyone else.

Check who Mamdani's friends are to find the likely carveouts - just like Newsom's Panera Carve-Out on our minimum wage law.

I once wrote code that checks location before hiding/showing the cancel button. It’s really absurd that the nice experience exists on all subscription sites by now but you only get to see it if your state demands it.

I think you, as the reader, are expected to mentally append “in NYC” when a link comes from nyc.gov. It seems very silly for a given municipality to need to qualify every sentence on its own website.

I took the "first" bit out of the title above - thanks!

The ironic thing to me is that Mamdani is only the mayor of NYC. He is not the governor of NY state. So if you live in Buffalo, you will still have to suffer through shenanigans?

Edit: I see others with similar thoughts from further down the scroll

This information about the NYT is out of date; it's now easy to unsubscribe from anywhere.

It's just local NYC news. Thinks are landmark to them that are often commonplace elsewhere which makes sense since millions call that place home that are not acquainted with other places. It is truly America's one megacity so that sort of puffery is expected.

The advent of dumpsters was similarly hailed there, though almost no other cities in the US throw their trash on the sidewalk.

The NYC propaganda is strong right now with Mamdani.

California still S-tier for protecting its land and people.

Oh, is new york in california?

Outsiders need to append a "for NYC".

They didn't here because for them as representatives of NYC that's all they are speaking to.

Technical pedantry like this just displays poor language and social skills.

I have similar feelings.

I am sympathetic to a perspective that says this is not the responsibility of a mayor of a single city... But also; who else is going to do it?

Normal people have very little say over the politicians that govern them in larger electoral regions like states or provinces, and maybe this can signal to other levels of government that they should implement similar rules... If it works.

Lol wait for enforcement before declaring victory

> Leaders actually advocating for the people who are being deceived by those in power instead of helping those in power.

Who is deceiving who now? And I'm not sure who is in power here...

That hotel may have broken an FTC rule that's been in effect for about a year now.

> Effective May 12, 2025, the FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, 16 C.F.R. Part 464, prohibits bait-and-switch pricing and other tactics used to obscure and misrepresent total prices and fees for live-event tickets and short-term lodging.

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/rule-unfair-...

Bending Spoons acquired Evernote:

"What is Bending Spoons? The little-known AOL and Vimeo owner that's now public" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48799966

Sharks will keep eating easy prey until they hit an iron bar. I also hate this fact about the world by the way :) Just a [hardwon] observation.

There’s a reason they were used as a poster child of a bad actor when the FTC rule was made a few years ago, before the current administration shredded it.

A complimentary complaint is that payments are a "pull" operation with subscriptions. You can't decide who gets your money. How retro is that!

For what it's worth, I just tried cancelling my NYTimes subscription to see if it was still as bad as I'd remembered, and aside from desperately begging me not to leave, it was quite simple. No need to contact support. I wasn't planning to go through with it, but I still got a nice discount for the next year, so.. thanks!

Anything Condé Nast too, which is pretty much everything. Nice office in the World Trade Center tho so they’ve got revenue figured out.

As someone who doesn’t live in the US, it was hilariously impossible: you had to call on the phone a number in New York, which never picked up, so you had to pay hours of internal call, or send a fax, something I hadn’t done in two decades…

Thankfully, I had a bank that used technology from this century, including a disposable credit card number. I stopped paying and that lead them to them calling me.

This is where getting it via Apple’s App Store is nice for consumers.

I (a non-American) had a NYT subscription through the iOS app some years back and cancelling it (like any other subscription through the App Store) was as as simple as:

- Open Settings

- Tap my account

- Tap Subscriptions

- Tap the New York Times option (or whatever it’s called)

- Tap Cancel

While the gate keeper aspect of Apple may not be good in many ways, at least we get this kind of benefit from it.

It goes

> Subject: Information about Your Automatic Renewal

> This is an automatically generated email from Nintendo for customers who have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack individual 12‑month (365‑day) membership set to renew automatically.

> Dear [user],

> Your Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack individual 12‑month (365‑day) membership will automatically renew soon.

> ...

> Deadline to turn off automatic renewal: [1 month from now]

It also does this right when you first sign up for automatic renewal except the deadline is [1 year from now].

I really appreciate companies that are transparent with renewals. I’m sure it cuts down on customer support load a lot too. Kagi goes as far as not billing you if you don’t use their service in the prior month. I was pretty shocked the first time I got that email. Made me a customer for life.

> where a preselected tip is selected. Default should be no.

A lot of this push to higher and higher and preselected tip options comes from POS software providers (Square et al) and credit card companies. They make money on transaction volume. Higher transaction -> more fees

Unless I’ve missed something, Nintendo seem to have really good business ethics.

GeForce NOW as well. Very straight forward and clear email every month.

Maybe their PMs haven't attended top MBA schools in the USA, yet

Your question answers exactly how enforceable it is. It’s directly linked to your population size and how much it can hurt the wallet of the company.

Edit: but also, who cares? Literally no solution to anything on earth works for EVERYONE

NYC has ~2% of the US population, and it’s a relatively wealthy slice compared to the mean. NYC has roughly 13x as many people as the entire state of Wyoming. I could see a company writing off Wyoming entirely (not likely, but possible) but not NYC.

States like CA, FL, NY, and TX can pass state laws that create defacto national regulations through sheer size, but smaller than that and you’ll have trouble.

> Antidotically,

Anecdotally

NYT made it difficult, and they are a pretty good product. If you didn't live in california and wanted to cancel your subscription, you were required to talk to a service rep who would try to get you stay by giving you some free period before normal subscription billing resumed

You are interested in providing something worth paying for. Other people are interested in maximizing ROI for ad spend.

I don’t think it would be a federal concern, but a state one.

However, in this case it’s because NYC law is typically allowed under NY state law to be stronger (but not weaker) than any corresponding state law.

why: because the federal level is not doing it

how: by declaring it a law in that area

I don't expect that Mamdani will cave in to real estate lobbyists lol. What you're describing is exactly why Establishment Democrats are losing to Mamdani and his ilk (DSA)

Why should it be mentioned? The article doesn't call out any other specific company by name. Is the Times really that egregious of a offender compared to the other businesses? Does new york city have a history of selectively enforcing laws to favor local businesses?

It's crazy that people think they should get away with these. I've seen some examples where basic things like the number of windows or where the garage and driveway are was totally misrepresented - surely they'd at least look at the results?

I agree, but how does one begin to enforce a ban like this? Bait-and-switch has always existed in real estate, which is all the more reason to do full due-diligence and inspect the property thoroughly and not just put in an offer sight unseen. If a seller is using AI to that extent, I'd be worried about what else they're hiding about the property.

What do you mean? The mayor is part of the government.

The "and" is very important here. Places like Seattle now mandate servers get a real wage. It inexplicably hasn't changed tip culture at all, so now they get regular wages and still complain when someone doesn't tip 20%+ for a takeout order.

for service workers, up to 25k in tips can be deducted from taxable income ("no tax on tips")

Indeed. But the feds have picked a side, and right now, it's not yours.

>$12/month subscription if I have to pay $120 in a lump sum up front.

Sounds like they are giving you two months free if you pay with a lump sum in advance.

In Australia they call this price the price-"sorted."

"7 dollars sorted." for example.

Depends who you ask!

Hasn’t Sadiq Khan been a similar story, from a Muslim immigrant family turned popular mayor of the nation’s largest city? Though from what I understand he’s from the more business-oriented center-left, in contrast with Mamdani.

Don't link a card or bank account to your play store account. They can't take money that isn't there.

How many legislative days did it take to get this policy in place, I wonder