Tech:NYC Digest: February 27

Tech:NYC Digest: February 27

February 27, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Monday, February 27, 2023

Happy Monday — if you’re out and about tonight, you finally have a chance to wear your snow boots! In today’s digest, Grand Central Madison’s grand opening, your guide to the 2023 tax season, and how generative AI may have created the hottest new job title.

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  • Today began the first day of full Long Island Rail Road service from the new Grand Central Madison hub. (Gothamist) The new schedules increase direct service through Midtown East, Queens, Brooklyn, and other hubs by 41%, with trains arriving and departing Manhattan terminals every three minutes during peak periods. (NBC New York)

  • The city will install five modular, prefabricated bathrooms — one in each borough — to pilot a program to increase access to public restrooms. They will also include baby-changing tables and hand-washing stations. (THE CITY)

  • The FDA approved an emergency authorization for the first over-the-counter, at-home combination flu and COVID test, which provides results within 30 minutes. However, the company that makes the test filed for bankruptcy — in part due to the FDA’s lengthy approval timeline — so it’s unclear when it will be available to consumers. (New York Times)

  • And if you’ve ever wanted to go ice skating on the highest outdoor deck in the Western Hemisphere, now’s your chance.

In other reading:

  • What You Need to Know for the 2023 Tax Season (New York Times)

  • America Built an Actually Good Airport: LaGuardia Is Reborn (The Atlantic)

  • A virtual tour of NYC Black history — through the corridors of City Hall (Gothamist)

A lot of industries — tech or otherwise — are sprinting to build generative AI integrations, but for now, those tools still require an actual person to interact with the AI.

Enter what could become the hottest tech job of 2023: the prompt engineer. (Axios)

  • More and more experts are claiming that effective use of ChatGPT and similar tools will require skilled human operators.

  • “Writing a really great prompt for a chatbot persona is an amazingly high-leverage skill and an early example of programming in a little bit of natural language,” said OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman on Twitter last week.

One the one hand: Some say prompt engineering will become a mainstay skill for all internet users. On the other: Some believe AI is evolving so quickly that the prompt engineering boom will burn out fast.

In other reading:

  • OnSiteIQ, a NYC-based construction intelligence platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Participating investors include Vertical Venture Partners, ValueStream Ventures, and MetaProp. 

  • Polybase, a NYC-based decentralized database startup, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. 6th Man Ventures led the round and was joined by Protocol Labs, Orange DAO, Alumni Ventures, NGC, CMT Digital, Upfront Ventures, and others.

  • Transcend Therapeutics, a NYC-based neuropsychiatric diseases biotech company, raised $40 million in Series A funding. Alpha Wave Global and Integrated Investment Partners co-led the round and were joined by Global Founders Capital, Emerald Development Managers, and others.

  • Vitally, a NYC-based customer success platform, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Next47 led the round and was joined by HubSpot Ventures, NewView Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz.

  • February 28: In-person and virtual: #newtovc: Goal-Setting for Next Rounds, with General Catalyst managing director Niko Bonatsos, Left Lane Capital vice president Laura Sillman, and 3L partner Jodi Kessler. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • February 28: In-person: Black Latines in Tech & VC, with Digital Health Review founder Blair Hirst, givepact co-founder and CEO Alicia Cepeda Maule, and BBG Ventures head of platform and operations Amber Quiñones. Hosted by VCFamilia and BLCK VC. Register here.

  • March 9: In-person: Innovating for Financial Inclusion in Fintech, with Alinea Invest co-CEO Eve Halimi, SoLo Funds director of growth Nicole Bayard, and Bolder Money co-founder Amy Schultz. Hosted by WIN NY and Rise, created by Barclays. Register here.

  • March 15: In-person: NY Enterprise Technology Meetup, with Haystack partner Semil Shah, Cowboy Ventures partner Amanda Robson, Streamdal CEO Ustin Zarubin, and others. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

  • March 15: In-person: NY Product Meetup, with Regal co-founder, CTO, and head of product Rebecca Greene. Hosted by Productboard. Register here.

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