Tech:NYC Digest: February 14

Tech:NYC Digest: February 14

February 14, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Monday, February 14, 2022

In today’s digest, Omicron wave breaks in NYC, the citywide plan for planting one million trees, and the companies charging ahead with spring office reopening plans.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 2,348

    • New positive cases, NYC: 700

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.0 percent (-0.1 percent)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 1,362 (-7)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers with least one dose: 88.3 percent

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 74.9 percent

Today’s latest: 

  • The Omicron wave in New York has broken fully, with COVID positivity rates down to levels seen in late October. (NBC New York)

    • Gov. Hochul said on Sunday the state's single-day positivity rate, 2.28 percent, was the lowest since Halloween.

  • The Supreme Court last Friday rejected an emergency request to consider an appeal by a group of NYC teachers seeking to block a vaccine mandate over what they said was a discriminatory religious exemption policy. (New York Times)

  • New York City is increasing its push to get more people tested and vaccinated. (ABC New York)

    • The city is handing out free at-home testing kits at landmark cultural sites and public libraries across the five boroughs. A full list of sites can be found here.

    • Anyone getting their first vaccine shot or a booster shot will be eligible for a $100 gift card through the end of the month.

  • All five Borough Presidents today asked Mayor Adams to plant one million trees throughout the city over the next decade. (Staten Island Advance)

    • The Borough Presidents also called on the mayor to keep his campaign promise and allocate one percent of the city’s budget to the Parks Department.

  • President Biden said that decisions by some state governors last week to begin lifting indoor mask mandates – which include Connecticut, New York and New Jersey – were “probably premature,” but acknowledged that it was a “tough call.” (New York Times)

In other reading:

  • How to navigate a post-mask-mandate world (Crain’s New York)

  • The U.S. needs a COVID forecast (Axios)

  • What's the best way to protect school-age kids from COVID? (NPR)

Long-postponed office reopenings may be coming to an end. Despite the Omicron variant and many false starts over the last two years, more businesses are optimistic that enough progress has been made to finally move ahead with in-person office plans.

Wall Street firms have been among the earliest to make those announcements. (Bloomberg)

  • Citigroup employees in the NYC area returned to the office today, and office attendance at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America has been progressively increasing in recent weeks.

  • American Express plans to call more employees back beginning March 1, and Wells Fargo plans to reopen its doors in mid-March.

Despite the efforts of employers, most employees anticipate more WFH beyond the Omicron variant. (Wall Street Journal)

  • In the ten largest cities tracked by Kastle Systems, which monitors building-access-card swipes, just a third of the workforce returned to work during the first week of February.

But Gov. Kathy Hochul hopes that changes soon. (NY1)

  • “I really do want everyone back in their offices, just want to say that. We thrive more when everyone comes back in person, but I’ll cut you slack just a little bit longer,” Hochul said. 

In other reading: 

  • Employee engagement is out. Here’s a better metric (Fast Company)

  • Slack or bust: How workplace tools are becoming job deal-breakers (Protocol)

  • Forget the Office — Salesforce is Making A Wellness Retreat for Workers (Wall Street Journal)

  • Clare, a New York City-based paint brand, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Pendulum led the round and was joined by First Round Capital. (Afrotech)

  • Northspyre, a New York City-based automation platform for real estate developers, raised $25 million in Series B funding. CRV led the round and was joined by Craft Ventures, Tamarisc Ventures, and Intercom co-founder Des Traynor. (Pitchbook)

  • February 15: Virtual: Extend Your Runway with R&D Tax Credits, with Claurus R+D CEO Jeff Haskett, Justworks director of payroll tax Matthew Oberting, and others. Hosted by Justworks  Register here.

  • February 17: Virtual: Web3 Video and the Future of Content Ownership, with Glass.xyz founder Dayo Adeosun. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. Register here.

  • February 22: Virtual: Investor Series, with Greycroft cofounder Alan Patricof. Hosted by New York Venture Partners. Register here.

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