Tech:NYC Digest: April 20

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Wednesday, April 20, 2022 

In today’s digest, more updates to federal and local mask mandates, city unveils containerized trash bins, and how companies can support employees with long COVID. 

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By the numbers:  

• New positive cases statewide: 7,862   

  • New positive cases, NYC: 3,499 

• NYC Positivity Rate: 3.7 percent (+0.3 percent)

• Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

  • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 89.9 percent 

  • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.6 percent

In today’s latest:

• The Biden administration intends to appeal the ruling striking down the federal mask requirement on airplanes, trains, buses, and other public transportation conditional on whether the CDC decides that extending the measure is necessary. (New York Times)

  • In the meantime, President Biden has said Americans should decide for themselves whether to wear masks. However, public health experts are anxious that the ruling sets a precedent that erodes the authority of public health agencies.

• As COVID-19 cases rise in NYC, Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that he would consider additional masking and other COVID restrictions should the city’s alert level move from green to yellow, but he remains undecided for now. (New York Times)

  • Gov. Hochul said masks will still be required on all public transit throughout the state “for the time being.” (Bloomberg) 

• City Council is forging ahead with a bill to delay the May 15 launch of New York’s salary disclosure law until November — but now with significant changes that would exempt far fewer jobs. (THE CITY)

• The city’s first containerized trash bins were unveiled in Times Square today as part of the city’s “Clean Curbs” program. The pilot program was originally announced two years ago and will expand to other commercial corridors in all five boroughs. (Spectrum News NY1)

• And we’ll spare you any bad 4/20 jokes, but we will remind you cannabis possession and consumption is legal in New York. Both Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams today touted the economic benefits of the growing industry in the state. (New York Daily News) 

  • If you’re planning to partake, our friends at NY Forever have a couple handy slides to remind you of the rules for doing so legally and responsibly.

In other reading:

• New York Had an ‘Epidemic of Loneliness.’ COVID Made It Worse. (New York Times)

• The summer of revenge travel is coming. No one can afford it. (Washington Post)

• Do I still need to wear a mask? A guide to help you decide. (Washington Post)

COVID-19 symptoms have persisted for millions of Americans after their initial recovery from the virus, with seemingly no end to the cognitive fog, weariness, and overall discomfort in sight.

• Long-term COVID has caused an estimated 1 million Americans to leave the workforce entirely, according to one study, and studies indicate 45 percent of long-term COVID patients have reduced their work hours.

For HR leaders and managers, this is a wake-up call, writes Protocol. Employers should approach long COVID as they would any other disability: with a collaborative effort to identify appropriate accommodations. 

• “What’s happening with long COVID is you have people that are all of a sudden realizing that they can’t remember how to complete a task and they don’t understand why they’re exhausted by 3 o’clock,” Ted Drake, Intuit’s global accessibility leader, told Protocol.

Offering remote work options, a different schedule, delegating some responsibility to other team members, or offering assistance with basic activities like scheduling are all examples of potential accommodations for workers — not just those with long-term COVID — as companies prepare to welcome employees back to the office in droves.

Our takeaway: Now is the time for employers to ease employee concerns about returning to the office by demonstrating a commitment to employee health and well-being. That includes practical physical changes — companies should go beyond mask and vaccine mandates (which fall on the employee) and reimagine the workplace to create safer spaces and healthier buildings.

In other reading:

• With Inflation, Workers Are Facing Return-to-Office Sticker Shock (New York Times)

• Gusto CSO Frederick Lee:  Why I share my performance reviews with our employees (Fast Company)

• We can’t stop playing video games at work (Protocol)

• Fundguard, a NYC-based investment management platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Blumberg Capital led the round and was joined by Citigroup and State Street, as well as insiders LionBird Ventures and Team8 Capital. (Newswire)

• Levels, a NYC-based developer of metabolic biosensors, raised $38 million in Series A funding. Participating investors include Andreessen Horowitz, as well as a group of individual operators and a Levels community crowdfunding round. (Businesswire)

• SellX, a NYC-based platform and talent marketplace for remote sales teams, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. GroundUp and State of Mind Ventures led the round. (FinSMEs)

• Themis, a New York-based collaborative governance, risk and compliance platform, raised $9 million in seed funding. TTV Capital led and was joined by Felicis and Walkabout Ventures. (Traders Magazine)

The Alexa Fund, Amazon’s venture capital arm, is accepting applications for its Black Founders Build with Alexa program. The program is a remote four-month program offering investments up to $100,000 to Black-founded startups with a readiness to work on Alexa voice, AI, or new media integrations. Learn more and apply by April 24 here. Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator is accepting applications for its Summer 2022 program. Selected companies participate in a four-month program and receive a $100,000 investment, as well as the potential for follow-on funding from ERA’s fund. Learn more and apply by April 25 here.Andreessen Horowitz is accepting applications for its a16z START Program. The program is open to founders in the earliest stages of company formation in fintech, consumer, enterprise, gaming, and other verticals. The program invests up to $1 million and provides a network of other resources and support. Learn more and apply here.Newlab, in collaboration with NYCEDC and ConEdison, is seeking applicants for the next cohort of its Resilient Energy Studio. Early-stage hardware and software companies with energy storage concepts will get the opportunity to test their technologies in real-world urban environments. Join the info session on May 3rd here and apply by June 1 here.

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