Andrew Yang Wants to Bring TikTok Hype Houses to NYC as Mayor

As part of his mayoral campaign, Andrew Yang has proposed bringing TikTok Hype Houses to NYC, where social media stars can live and work together.

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Image via Getty/ Stephen Maturen

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Now that Andrew Yang has announced his mayoral bid for New York City, he’s started outlining some of policies. And while Yang has good ideas like universal basic income, one of his ideas has raised some eyebrows.

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As the New York Times' Taylor Lorenz pointed out on Twitter, Yang wants to bring TikTok Hype Houses to the city to encourage young creators to live and work in New York. “We need to help create similar artist collectives that utilize new technologies,” Yang writes on his website.

ANDREW YANG'S PLAN FOR NYCHA pic.twitter.com/1wvt0DEGt2

— katelin (she/they), GOOD CAUSE OR BUST (@loud_socialist) January 14, 2021

As you might expect, New Yorkers weren't particularly fond of the idea of a bunch of TikToker's descending on their city.

If I end up living next door to one of Andrew Yang's TikTok collectives, I swear to god

— Joe Reid (@joereid) January 14, 2021

Andrew Yang: "TikTok Hype Houses"
New Yorkers: "Can you fucking fix NYCHA" https://t.co/8t7SPRCprg

— Jae19 (@puzzlecrab) January 14, 2021

are andrew yang's only concrete policy proposals in NYC to paint the streets bright colors and to make a TikTok hype house?

— jord (@jor_DNA) January 14, 2021

andrew yang enjoying his tiktok hype house https://t.co/tA0uZIAWkz pic.twitter.com/RlQmQq6vzH

— Jared Gilman (@realJaredGilman) January 14, 2021

I hate that this whole Andrew Yang thing made me have to ask my son what a TikTok Hype House was. Balance must be restored to the universe.

— Denali Dasgupta (@naxattack) January 14, 2021

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Yang also came under fire this week for complaining about living in New York City during the pandemic. “We live in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. And so, like, can you imagine trying to have two kids on virtual school in a two-bedroom apartment, and then trying to do work yourself?” he told The New York Times.

During the pandemic, Yang left town to live in the Hudson Valley. “We took our two kids, including my autistic son, to Upstate New York to help him adapt to our new normal,” Yang later told The Times in a separate statement. “Evelyn and I know how lucky we are to have that option, which is why I’ve committed the past several years of my life to lifting up working families and eliminating poverty.”

Yang also appeared on The Breakfast Club on Thursday to further discuss his campaign.

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