Tech:NYC Digest: January 6

January 06, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Friday, January 6, 2023

Happy first Friday of the year! We’re back with another “Friday Five” roundup of our top stories in New York tech.

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Recruit tech workers for NYC public jobs (New York Daily News)

ICYMI: our founder Julie Samuels and 5BORO Institute executive director Grace Rauh write we have a unique opportunity to bring more tech expertise into public service. There are nearly 500 vacant data, technology, and innovation roles in city government right now. And there are more than enough tech workers in NYC to fill them. Let's start recruiting them.

New York Landlords Try Carbon-Sucking Towers to Comply with Climate Law (Bloomberg)

A 30-story Upper West Side high-rise has installed a carbon-capture rig for its natural gas boilers, an upgrade to drastically reduce emissions in the city. With Local Law 97 in effect, some 50,000 commercial and residential buildings will need to be retrofitted over the next decade, creating what could be a new $20 billion market. The good news is NYC has become one of the hotspots for climate tech, and startups here are already moving quickly to meet the demand.

Governor Hochul Announces Pre-seed and Seed Matching Fund Program (NYS)

A new $30 million fund from NY Ventures, the state’s venture capital arm, will support early-stage startups building solutions in climate tech, fintech, healthcare, SaaS and AI, and more. When we ask new NYC founders what support they could use most, access to capital is always top of the list, and we’re glad to see our elected officials further investing in the future of the sector here. Learn more.

Queens compost program lightens NYC landfills’ load by 12 million pounds (Gothamist)

The program, which launched in October, has been a resounding success, thanks in part to how easy it is to take advantage of it: residents are automatically enrolled and no special bins are needed. Now let’s scale it citywide!

The MetroCard’s 28 Years as a Blank Canvas (Curbed)

Just because we’re OMNY users now doesn’t mean we forget where we came from. As the MetroCard prepares to retire, we loved this commemorative walk through its three decades of keeping us moving.

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