Tech:NYC Digest: April 14

April 14, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Friday, April 14, 2023

We’re back with another “Friday Five” roundup of our top stories in New York tech this week.

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Fintech’s AI moment: Eric Glyman in conversation with Reid Hoffman (Ramp)

The Ramp CEO sat down with the Greylock partner to catch up on all the ways a sector freshly on everyone’s mind this year — AI — is influencing a sector that’s long been a legacy of the NYC economy — finance. Ramp now has several workstreams leveraging AI as an efficiency tool, and Glyman predicts there’s even more terrain to explore. (PS: Tech:NYC is hosting the next fireside chat with Glyman on April 25. Register here.)

Union Square Tech Hub Set to Open in Coming Months After COVID Delays (Gotham Gazette)

The hub at Zero Irving was originally proposed in 2017, and with construction now wrapping up, it will be the new home for Civic Hall, the nonprofit organization helping underrepresented New Yorkers land jobs in the tech sector. There will also be plenty of event space, so you’re sure to see Tech:NYC around the building a lot too!

A New Way to Track How the City Moves (Curbed)

The mobility startup Viva is well known in London and across Europe, but it has brought its sensor technology to NYC for the first time to provide real-time data on urban street patterns across nine traffic modes. And instead of waiting for real-world crash data should two modes collide (say: a bike and a car), the sensor’s ability to track near misses — where two paths almost cross but don’t — has the potential to identify a dangerous spot before someone gets hurt. This will obviously have a lot of value for transportation planners in several ways (including when it comes time to implement the city’s congestion pricing framework).

The country’s biggest office-to-apartment conversion is underway inside the old Daily News office (Gothamist)

1,300 new apartments will come online in Lower Manhattan thanks to the project. It’s being built at a time when office occupancy has plateaued but the need for affordable housing has not. This could set an important precedent for how NYC can amend its zoning rules to take on more conversions like this across all five boroughs.

How NYC’s Bakery Lines Became as Fierce as Streetwear Drops (Eater NY)

The innovation of the croissant continues (for better or worse). In any case, this has a nice roundup of all the sweet shops where it’s worth waiting in line.

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