Personality

Elon Musk’s controversial history in New York

The Twitter owner is facing a union campaign at Tesla’s Buffalo factory. It won’t be the first challenge he has faced in New York.

Elon Musk has a long and (predictably) controversial history in New York.

Elon Musk has a long and (predictably) controversial history in New York. Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images

Of all the topics aging whiz kid Elon Musk and conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch could have been discussing while huddled in the stands at Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, fighting back unions was not on our bingo card. But Musk, who is no fan of unions, very well may have been seeking Murdoch’s expertise as organizing brewed at a Tesla factory in Buffalo.

On Tuesday, some Tesla workers at the Buffalo plant announced a union campaign with Workers United, an affiliate of Service Employees International Union that helped organize Starbucks baristas in Buffalo and beyond. If the Tesla workers succeed, it would be the company’s first unionized location.

But the union drive won’t be Musk’s first challenge or venture in New York, or even in Buffalo. The Tesla founder and embattled Twitter owner has a long and (predictably) controversial history in New York. Here are a few of his most notable entanglements in the Empire State.

Gigafactory 2

Nothing uncontroversial starts with the words “Buffalo Billion.” As part of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s massive western New York economic development program, the state doled out $950 million in subsidies to SolarCity – the solar panel company of which Musk was chair of the board and which was then bought by Tesla – to build a solar energy factory that would produce 1,460 jobs in Buffalo. The SolarCity plant, known after Tesla’s acquisition as Gigafactory 2 or Giga New York, began production of solar panels with Panasonic in 2017 but faced doubts about whether it would meet the state’s hiring requirements. After several extensions, at the end of 2021, Tesla reported that it in fact exceeded those hiring requirements, with some caveats. The Buffalo plant is not solely focused on solar work, as it was envisioned, but makes parts for other areas of Tesla’s business, like electric vehicle charging and has hired people to work on autonomous driving. The latter is the group launching the union campaign.

Pandemic promises

In March 2020, when COVID-19 began to overwhelm New York hospitals, Musk took a break from spreading misinformation about the virus to promise that Tesla would deliver ventilators to hospitals experiencing a shortage – an offer that then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio leapt at. But Musk primarily delivered BiPAP machines to New York and other hospitals across the country, which experts said wouldn’t work for the worst COVID-19 cases.

Musk also promised later in March that Tesla’s Buffalo factory would reopen “as soon as humanly possible” to begin production of its own ventilators. Several months later, the company was silent on whether that production had begun. Yahoo News reported in late 2021, however, that SpaceX, another of Musk’s companies, had helped produce an important part for ventilator supplier Medtronic.

The hyperloop

A tunnel to take commuters between New York City and Washington, D.C., in 29 minutes? It’s not exactly a surprise that the idea, which always seemed a little far-fetched, has yet to come to fruition. Despite Musk tweeting in 2017 that he had received verbal government approval to build the so-called Hyperloop – which local officials promptly denied – there’s no sign of light at the end of this tunnel yet.

Sought-after transit expert

During Cuomo’s 2019 takeover of L train tunnel repairs, the then-governor revealed that he had reached out to Musk for ideas about how to fix the subway and its aging signaling system. “I don’t believe a time where they’re talking about flying cars and you can get into a car and drive 100 miles on the LIE and never touch the steering wheel, that there’s not a better technology that can regulate the trains!” Cuomo said at the time. It’s unclear if Musk ever offered Cuomo advice, but nearly a year later, Musk did share an innovative solution to urban traffic: moving people via underground tunnels.

Lobbying for direct auto sales

State restrictions on direct sales of vehicles by manufacturers have kept Tesla from expanding its stores in New York beyond the five that Musk managed in 2014 to get grandfathered in. Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers have stepped up their lobbying efforts recently, as the state pushes further adoption of electric vehicles and phasing out gas-powered cars.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.