Tandy Lau is a Jersey City-based reporter who covers public safety across the Hudson for Harlem’s Amsterdam News, New York City’s oldest and largest historically-Black newspaper. For the past three years, his coverage has ranged from NYPD practices and jail conditions to the migrant bus arrivals. His stories were used in a United States Court of Appeals gun control case and helped lead to the release of a young woman held on Rikers Island. He originally studied journalism and Asian American studies at California State University, Northridge before finishing his M.S. at Columbia Journalism School. Outside of work, he spends his time flying home to Los Angeles, caring for his yellow leopard gecko named Lemonade and not caring for his dying houseplant.

Lau briefed National Press Foundation fellows in March 2025: Journalism Ethics: Protecting Sources in Your Community.