Tech:NYC Digest: December 20

Tech:NYC Digest: December 20

December 20, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

In today’s digest, what to expect for your commute in 2023, how to avoid the “tri-demic” during the holidays, and the books Tech:NYC leaders loved in 2022.

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  • The MTA announced plans to scale back subway service on Mondays and Fridays — and increase weekend service on some lines — beginning in June to adjust to ongoing shifts in post-pandemic ridership. (Bloomberg)

  • Democrats in the state Senate will retain their supermajority with the victory of state Sen. John Mannion in Central New York, who secured reelection by ten votes after a recount and court battle. (Spectrum News)

    • In related news: The incoming Democratic class of New York state senators will be composed entirely of women, a first for any conference in the body’s 245-year history. (Times Union)

  • Mayor Eric Adams and city health officials held a briefing this afternoon to discuss holiday season safety measures, where he urged New Yorkers and visitors alike to ensure they’re updated on their booster shots and to wear masks while in public indoor settings. (CBS News)

In other reading:

  • The ‘Tripledemic’ Holiday: How to Fly More Safely (Hint: Wear a Mask) (New York Times)

  • These were the most borrowed books from NYC’s public libraries in 2022 (Gothamist)

  • Is Everyone Really Moving to Turtle Bay in 2023? (Curbed)

Here's one fun end-of-year roundup (that doubles as a useful list of last-minute holiday shopping ideas for friends and colleagues)! We asked New York tech leaders in our network: What’s one book you read in 2022 that had an impact on you, either professionally or personally? Here’s what they told us:Tiffany Luck, partner, GGV Capital: The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal

  • "It’s an amazing book that changes how you view and relate to stress, and ultimately helps you harness the power of it. Highly recommend!"

Susan Lyne, co-founder and managing partner, BBG Ventures: Horse by Geraldine Brooks

  • "I read a lot of wonderful books this year, but the one that stayed with me is Horse. Brooks' novel is steeped in research and follows multiple characters across two centuries, all of whom have a connection with the extraordinary (and very real) Lexington, a race horse raised by enslaved horse trainers in 1850s Kentucky. I've never been a fan of books about animals – even as a kid – but this novel is really about the evolution of racism in the US, seen through a rich and engaging cast of characters. I read the last 50 pages very slowly, as I always do when I don't want a story to end."

Eli Polanco, founder and CEO, Nivelo: Founder Sales by Peter Kazanjy

  • "I'm a founder taking up sales significantly for the first time, and this book was a great go-to-market handbook for my early stage company."

Kevin Ryan, founder and CEO, AlleyCorp: Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

  • "A brilliantly written, moving book about what it is like to grow up very poor in NYC."

Su Sanni, co-founder and CEO, Dollaride: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson

  • "I liked this short book because it gave practical advice on how to achieve happiness and remarkable success in business. Some of the advice was counterintuitive, albeit thought-provoking. As a collection of Naval’s wisdom and experience, this book can be used as a new framework or revisited for inspiration along one's entrepreneurial journey."

Julie Samuels, founder, Tech:NYC: This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

  • "This Time Tomorrow tells a great story of growing up in NYC, much of it occurring on the Upper West Side, where I live. The story crosses decades and digs into friendships and family relationships that could only happen in a place like New York. I couldn’t put it down. It would make a great holiday read."

Mike Seckler, CEO, Justworks: The Overstory by Richard Powers

  • "The best book I read this year was The Overstory. It was recommended to me by Janice Nimura whose book The Doctors Blackwell (which I will be reading soon) was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. I loved the book because I am a lover of trees. It gave me a lot to think about around our relationships with trees and the forests, as well as about how trees express themselves and communicate with each other and with us."

Stuart Sopp, founder and CEO, Current: Capital Wars by Michael J. Howell

  • "The tension between the strength of the Chinese economy and the evermore inadequate supplies of US Treasuries, for ‘safe’ savings assets, incentivizes more and more dangerously complex forms of financial engineering. The Global Liquidity cycle vents these tensions. Our mantras are — don’t ignore liquidity and don’t underestimate China. These subliminal messages of the past two decades have now become the explicit warnings for the future."

  • User Interviews, a NYC-based app for recruiting customer experience survey participants, raised $27.5 million in Series B funding. Sageview Capital led the round and was joined by Teamworthy, Accomplice, Las Olas VC, Trestle Ventures, ValueStream, Remarkable Ventures, and FJ Labs. (TechCrunch)

  • Wischoff Ventures, a NYC-based venture capital firm for early-stage companies focused on bringing offline industries online, raised $20 million for its Fund II. (TechCrunch)

Primary Venture Partners, an early-stage VC firm focused on New York startups, is accepting applications for its seventh NYC Founders Fellowship cohort. This cohort is focused exclusively on early-stage founders building in healthcare to participate in a free, part-time, no-equity program for feedback on developing a GTM strategy, raising money, scaling your team, and more. Learn more and apply by Jan. 8 here.BX-XL, an early-stage startup accelerator program run by the Social Justice Fund and Visible Hands to support BIPOC founders, is accepting applications for its inaugural cohort. Selected founders will receive investments of up to $500,000, mentorship, company-building support, and more. Learn more and apply by Jan. 20 here.Interested in teaching the next generation of coders? Giant Machines is accepting applications for their Summer Teaching Fellows (formerly Upperline Code Fellows), as it pursues its mission of creating pathways to tech careers through computer science education. The program has partnerships with nonprofits like CSforAll, Break Through Tech, and SEO Scholars, along with Fortune 100 companies like Google and the sponsors of FinTech Focus. Apply by the Jan. 16 priority deadline here.The Social Science Research Council is accepting applications for its Just Tech Fellowship. The program is open to cross-disciplinary researchers and practitioners to imagine and create more just, equitable, and representative technological futures. Selected fellows receive two-year awards of $100,000 annually, as well as seed funding for work on other collaborative projects. Learn more and apply by Jan. 30 here.

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