Tech:NYC Digest: April 22

Tech:NYC Digest: April 22

April 22, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Friday, April 22, 2022

Happy 🌎 Day! In today’s digest, Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams announce new climate initiatives, Gov. Hochul to appeal redistricting case, and Reps. Ritchie Torres and Yvette D. Clarke join our own Jason Myles Clark to support EV infrastructure investments in the city.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 8,452     

    • New positive cases, NYC: 3,207

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 4.3 percent (+0.3 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.0 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 76.7 percent

In today’s latest:

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced a handful of new climate initiatives to mark Earth Day:

    • The governor and mayor, along with former president Bill Clinton, unveiled a new blueprint for making NYC high-rises and other office buildings carbon-neutral. (New York Daily News) In Queens, Adams also promoted the city’s NYC Accelerator program for landlords looking to make their buildings more energy-efficient. (New York Daily News)  

    • The MTA will deploy 60 new zero-emission electric buses to bus depots in all five boroughs, an increase from the 15 buses currently on the streets.

  • The latest updates to NYC Dept. of Health data shows unvaccinated New Yorkers are now 37.8 times more likely to be hospitalized than those who are vaccinated.

  • Most Americans continue to support mask requirements in airports, according to new Ipsos polling, but fewer than half said they're likely to wear a mask in airports without the mandate in place. (Axios)

  • A New York appeals court ruled yesterday that the redrawn congressional district lines violate the state’s gerrymandering ban. Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to appeal the decision to the state’s highest court, where a final verdict could come as soon as next week. (New York Times)

  • And lastly, in honor of Earth Day, meet Melinda Clancy, the person responsible for planting thousands of new trees in NYC every year.

In other reading:

  • We Have the Technology to Stop Superspreading Without Masks (New York Times)

  • Trash or Recycling? Why Plastic Keeps New Yorkers Guessing (New York Times)

  • Talking Alternate-Side Parking with the Queen of Securing A Spot (Curbed)

In New York, transportation contributed to 28 percent of the city’s overall greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, and approximately half of total carbon dioxide emissions statewide. The biggest culprit, unsurprisingly, is passenger cars. 

But the federal infrastructure bill makes the state eligible for up to $175 million in funding over the next five years for solutions to drastically cut that number.

In a new op-ed, our own Jason Myles Clark, together with Reps. Ritchie Torres and Yvette D. Clarke, explains how the right investments in EV infrastructure can create the most progress.

  • The latest studies show the New York metro area will need 72,000 EV chargers by 2030 to meet emissions reduction goals. In NYC, we currently only have 1,566, and only less than one percent of vehicles in the city are electric.

  • 14 members of New York State’s Democratic congressional delegation wrote a joint letter urging the Dept. of Transportation prioritize urban EV charging infrastructures.

Why it matters: Clark and the Members of Congress write that this is a unique opportunity for New York to begin rectifying the harms caused by Robert Moses-era city planning decisions that created transit deserts and other policy failures in lower-income communities:

  • “The state needs to ensure the communities disproportionately impacted by decades of congestion fumes and segregational roadway projects are the first to benefit from EV infrastructure investments.”

NYC-based tech companies are already working to address some of these gaps, while making EV charging easier in cities. (Axios)

  • Revel’s Bed-Stuy location is home to the largest publicly-available, fast-charging station in North America, and Gravity Mobility is debuting a 24-space, fast-charging hub this spring in a garage on West 42nd Street.

  • Beam Global deployed 89 off-grid charging pads, which generate and store their own solar and wind power, for NYC’s municipal fleets.

  • Uber is partnering with EVgo to make charging cost-effective for rideshare drivers as part of its goal to electrify by 2030.

The authors write: “Unless we are intentional with how our state’s EV investments are deployed, the same communities that suffered most from past transportation developments will be among the last to benefit from the green revolution. More than avoiding the mistakes of the past, we can undo them by prioritizing equity as we electrify New York City’s streets.”

In other reading:

  • How jobs will change with a warming world (Axios)

  • The sustainability data that could change the game for your company’s mission (Protocol)

  • The 5 technologies giving us hope for the planet’s future (Fast Company)

  • HacWare, a NYC-based cybersecurity awareness training tool, raised $2.3 million in seed funding. Elevate Capital led the round and was joined by 2.0 Ventures, Aura Innovation Fund, Chai Angels, and others. (TechCrunch)

  • Opus, a NYC-based mobile learning and training platform for frontline workers, raised $2 million in seed funding. Gutter Capital led the round and was joined by Metrodora Ventures. (FinSMEs)

  • Privy, a NYC-based API builder for off-chain user data management, raised $8 million in seed funding. Sequoia Capital and BlueYard Capital co-led the round. (VentureBeat)

  • Source Health, a NYC-based startup that helps digital health companies scale, raised $3 million in seed funding. First Round Capital led the round and was joined by Box Group. (Fierce Healthcare)

  • April 27: Virtual: Solving for the Last Mile, with Veho co-founder and CEO Itamar Zur. Hosted by Savills America. Register here.

  • April 29: Virtual: Creating a Culture of Data Sharing, with NYC chief analytics officers Martha Norrick, NYC Council Technology Committee chair Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

  • May 4: Virtual: The Future of New York series, with Tech:NYC executive director Jason Myles Clark and Capalino president Travis Terry. Hosted by Capalino. Register here.

  • May 5: Virtual: Tech regulation beyond big tech, with Consumer Technology Association SVP Michael Petricone, Small Business Majority director Awesta Sarkash, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.