Tech:NYC Digest: January 20

Tech:NYC Digest: January 20

January 20, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Thursday, January 20, 2022

In today’s digest, NYC Omicron cases quickly falling, Mayor Adams to accept first paycheck in cryptocurrency, and what employers need to know about NYC’s new salary transparency law. 

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers: 

  • New positive cases statewide: 30,631

    • New positive cases, NYC: 13,474

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 11.5 percent (-1.2 percent)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 5,715 (-279)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers with least one dose: 86.6 percent

    • Percentage of all New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 73.3 percent

Today’s latest: 

  • New analysis indicates that Omicron cases in NYC may be falling as quickly as they rose — new cases have fallen by 57 percent over the past week. (ABC News)

  • Dr. Fauci said the FDA could approve Pfizer's vaccine for children under 5 years old in the next month. Children in this age group will likely need three doses because two shots did not induce an adequate immune response in clinical trials. (CNBC)

  • The 400 million free N95 masks being distributed by the federal government should be available at pharmacies beginning next week (including most pharmacy chains that are distributing COVID vaccines). Here’s an FAQ on how to get yours.

    • A maximum of three masks per adult will be available, and only adult sizes are currently being distributed.

    • If you’d like to purchase more, reputable sellers can be found here.

  • New York’s plans to permanently bring back to-go cocktails is expected to go into effect immediately upon the passage of the state’s executive budget, likely in early April. (Crain’s New York) 

  • Mayor Eric Adams said his first paycheck tomorrow will be converted into Bitcoin and Ethereum on the Coinbase exchange, fulfilling a promise he made before taking office. (The Verge)

In other reading:

  • When you should take a PCR vs. a rapid antigen test (CNN)

  • The Pandemic Lessons We Clearly Haven’t Learned (New York Times)

  • New York’s Central Park Becomes a Living Climate Laboratory (Scientific American)

At the end of last year, the NYC Council passed legislation requiring employers to publish the minimum and maximum salary range for any position in the city. (CNN) The bill was enacted on January 15.

The law takes effect on May 15, 2022 and follows a wave of similar pay transparency laws enacted in California, Connecticut, and other states in the last three years. Here’s some of the details of NYC’s law:

  • The bill applies to all private and public sector job postings, as well as promotion and transfer opportunities, being advertised by employers with four or more employees. Independent contractors count towards that threshold.

  • The law does not apply, however, to temporary positions posted by temporary staffing agencies and hiring firms.

NYC employers are currently allowed to withhold specific pay information until the end of the hiring process, but researchers and advocates say this leads to candidates lowballing their pay expectations and deepens pay inequity issues, especially for women and people of color. (NPR)

  • Others argue the law helps employers too — by imposing the new rules on every employer at once, it reduces the likelihood companies lose employees who quit to do a market check on what other people are being paid.

But there’s still a lot to clarify: Many details about how it will be applied have yet to be determined.

  • At a base level, the law doesn’t actually define “salary” or clarify the requirements of non-salaried positions, leaving questions about what counts as compensation under the law.

  • It also doesn’t yet offer guidance on how narrow the salary ranges must be. It only requires the ranges be disclosed “in good faith” — and it doesn’t say anything about New York employers recruiting for remote positions.

The bill authorizes the New York City Commission on Human Rights to implement the law and impose fines and other penalties for violations.

As additional enforcement rules are made available, we’ll be sure to provide those updates.

In other reading: 

  • Meet the ‘Covid expats’ who moved abroad during the pandemic. Here’s what they learned about work. (CNBC)

  • Work From Home Is Becoming a Permanent Part of How Jobs Are Done (Bloomberg)

  • Is the 'Zoom ceiling' the new glass ceiling? Experts worry remote work will hold women back (NBC News)

  • Inspect Point, a New York-based provider of business management software for the fire inspection industry, raised $28 million in growth equity funding from Mainsail Partners. (Inspect Point)

  • Mantra Health, a New York City-based digital mental health clinic focused on young adults, raised $22 million in Series A funding. VMG Partners led the round and was joined by New Market Venture Partners, Elements Health Ventures, 14W, and Alumni Ventures, as well as insiders Canaan Partners, Global Founders Capital, Baleon Capital, Western Tech Investments, and City Light Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Walnut, a New York City-based platform for sales and marketing demo experiences, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Felicis Ventures led the round and was joined by insiders FX, Eight Roads Ventures, and A Capital, as well as a group of strategic angel investors. (TechCrunch)

  • January 25: Virtual: The Future of Community, with Flybridge Capital and Community Fund VC general partner Jesse Middleton. Register here.

  • January 26: Virtual: Tech Regulation is Coming. How Does Big Tech Respond?, with Microsoft chief privacy officer Julie Brill, TechNet president and CEO Linda Moore, Consumer Reports director of privacy and technology policy Justin Brookman, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here. 

  • February 1: Virtual: Hospitality in the Digital Age, with Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass. Hosted by Savills. 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.