Investigative reporter in Albany for The New York Times. Native Texan. Moitié français. Email: Jay.Root AT nytimes.com; 518-779-6529. DMs open.
Joined April 2009
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403 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
25 Aug 2025
1/8 The authoritarian government of China is using the tools of Western democracy to influence elections in America’s largest city #NYC
@PekingMike @biancapallaro @Fahrenthold and I got receipts
A Thread 🧵
nytimes.com/2025/08/25/nyreg…
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Jay Root retweeted
Jun 11
A lobbyist romantically linked to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie led a rally opposing major environmental legislation a week before Heastie declined to bring it to a vote. It's unclear if Heastie still has any recusal policy related to the lobbyist nysfocus.com/2026/06/11/heas…
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May 22
.@AGSNYT calls out media owners that have settled flimsy lawsuits and transformed their coverage to placate the president: "Such capitulation, even seemingly small instances of it, serves only to embolden the administration to keep attacking the press." nytco.com/press/ag-sulzberge…
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May 19
Seneca Nation leader JC Seneca says a year after @KathyHochul apologized for the atrocities committed by NYS at the Thomas Indian School, “we haven’t seen any action” on education initiatives she promised nytimes.com/2025/05/20/nyreg…
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May 19
Unkechaug Nation Chief Harry Wallace says NYS needs a standalone office dedicated to native affairs and not depend on the “whims” of the governor.
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May 19
President JC Seneca of the Seneca Nation said he hasn’t met with @KathyHochul about a new gaming compact since July, calls the approach from her office “disrespectful.”
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May 18
In which Ken Paxton urges a Texas sheriff to negotiate an agreement with ICE, since counties like El Paso have — except he cited El Paso, Colorado.
(Which does not actually have said agreement)
From @nachoaguilar & @DegroodMatt
houstonchronicle.com/news/ho…
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May 14
Above a noodle house in Chinatown, feds say a politically connected guy named Harry Lu used a tax exempt nonprofit to monitor critics of the Chinese Communist Party. Today he was convicted of acting as a foreign agent. nytimes.com/2026/05/13/nyreg… via @SantulN and @PekingMike
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… there are “Assembly Member Emeritus” plates? Who knew?
May 6
Why is former NY Assembly Member @peterabbatejr (who I saw walking away) driving around with 3 parking placards on his dash, two of which have hidden (surely expired) expiration dates and one a fireman's union placard that gives no parking privileges? He was illegally parked.
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The Dallas Morning News and Texas Monthly both producing Pulitzer winners is so dang cool. Two of the three AAJA awards named today were Texans too, and the third an ex-Texan.
There's so much journalism talent in this state and we should never take it for granted.
Mark Lamster, longtime architecture critic of The Dallas Morning News, has been awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. dallasnews.com/arts-entertai…
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May 4
Proud to be a Texan and a lifelong fan and reader of @TexasMonthly tonight.
May 4
Texas Monthly senior editor Aaron Parsley has been awarded the @PulitzerPrizes for feature writing, for his heartrending, first-person account of his family’s fight for survival during last year’s devastating Central Texas floods. texasmonthly.com/press-room/…
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Apr 30
NEW: Two Jeffrey Epstein accusers are expected to testify in Albany next week about their experiences with the financier.
It comes as @zellnor4ny seeks to update sex-trafficking laws in NY and enable Epstein victims to sue his estate for punitive damages
nytimes.com/2026/04/30/nyreg…
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Apr 23
NEW: Absent a biblical rainfall event this summer, Corpus Christi will be the first American city in modern history to run out of water. 💦
Schools & hospitals hope to drill wells. Lawns are dry. How will petrochemical plants handle it? We don’t know.
kut.org/energy-environment/2…
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Apr 18
Absolutely chilling.
Apr 18
Jonathan Gavalas was a seemingly healthy & even-keeled 36-year-old when he began chatting with Google’s Gemini chatbot partly to seek comfort about splitting up with his wife.
Over 56 days, they traded 4,732 messages.
The end of their chat is haunting. wsj.com/tech/ai/google-gemin…
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Apr 15
This only happens when the reporters are actually holding the politicians accountable.
Apr 14
Of note👇
After the council session, Whitmire did individual meetings with reporters from multiple outlets but denied an interview solely to the Houston Chronicle. The mayor and his office have not responded to the Chronicle’s requests for comment since August.
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Apr 15
NEW: As New York leaders argue over whether to raise taxes on high earners to help solve NYC’s multibillion-dollar budget gap, Gov. Kathy Hochul has decided to push for a yearly tax aimed at second homes in the city that are worth $5 million or more. nytimes.com/2026/04/14/nyreg…
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Apr 15
The tariffs, in place now for years, were meant to protect US industry so it could become competitive in EVs. Instead the big automakers built gas-guzzling SUVs, with a few decent EVs. I know they were catering to the market and were not helped by the end of the tax credits, but.
Ford’s top executive says allowing Chinese automakers to sell their cars in the US would be “devastating” to American manufacturing bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Apr 11
I know the feeling!
A dog in Ireland couldn’t wait in the car any longer and started honking the horn for its owner.
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Apr 10
On Wednesday, just 4 ships, none of them oil tankers, passed through the strait, fewer than the day before the ceasefire, and on Thursday, just 7. “Let’s be clear,” the head of the Abu Dhabi oil company said. “The Strait of Hormuz is not open.” @sbg1 newyorker.com/news/letter-fr…
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Mike's reporting on Xi Jinping's family wealth was so dangerous that Bloomberg killed the story rather than risk getting kicked out of China. Then he went to the NYT and published it anyway. So this is pretty cool to see!
An extremely timely book from a brilliant and courageous guy who isn’t afraid to speak truth to power. Highly recommend!
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