Tech:NYC Digest: July 1

Tech:NYC Digest: July 1

July 01, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Thursday, July 1, 2021

In today’s digest, will outdoor dining stick around?, need-to-know items in the new city budget, Microsoft launches a digital skills training program to help get New Yorkers back to work, and dining scoops for the long weekend.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

The city government is working to make the Open Restaurants program, which gave restaurants clearance for outdoor dining setups during the pandemic, a permanent fixture. Ask most New Yorkers, and they’re sure to agree outdoor dining is good for the city. (New York Times)

What happened: Mayor Bill de Blasio enabled outdoor dining through an executive order last June. It became instrumental to the hospitality industry's survival, saving an estimated 100,000 jobs. And unlike other provisions that expired when Gov. Cuomo ended the state of emergency a week ago, the city committed to keeping outdoor dining available through 2022. 

Extending it would require zoning changes: The city had to suspend about 20 regulations to make outdoor setups possible for restaurants, including relaxing zoning rules limiting sidewalk cafes in many districts. The Department of Transportation suggested eliminating several of these restrictions. (Crain’s New York)

  • Restaurants would still have to follow regulations set by the Department of Health, the Department of Buildings and other agencies, but the Department of Transportation’s new rules will set standards for outdoor dining. 

Since outdoor dining has been so popular, there hasn’t been much debate about its post-pandemic shape. Other issues, especially crime and homelessness, are likely to dominate the mayoral race until November. But the zoning regulations the next mayor signs off on will no doubt transform street life in every corner of the city for years to come. (New York Times)

  • FWIW: The top Democratic contenders for mayor — Adams, Garcia, and Wiley — have all expressed support for outdoor dining, but to what degree remains to be seen.

Is your team making lunch plans? Let Justworks and The Infatuation pay for it. The two companies have partnered on a $2,000 sweepstakes to take your team out for a meal at one of nine participating women & minority owned restaurants around the city. Enter the Team Bonding Sweepstakes here.

Budget Breakdown:

New York City officials on Wednesday adopted the city’s largest budget ever, a $98.7 billion spending plan that restores many of the service cuts prompted by the sudden economic downturn caused by the coronavirus. (New York Times) Here are some key takeaways from the budget showing how workforce training and career development are front and center:

  • The Job Training and Placement Initiative is getting $8 million this year compared to under $6 million last year.

  • The Bridge Program for Workforce Development was renewed after a pilot year with a budget of $1 million.

  • There’s $4 million in scholarships for Black and low-income New Yorkers attending a CUNY school. 

  • The city will use $6.5 million to “quickly” train 1,000 New Yorkers for jobs in “high-demand” fields.

  • And every public school will have “Fair Student Funding” restored to 100%.

One fun thing: Today the Mayor announced that the August 21st Central Park Concert will include Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, and Jennifer Hudson as headlining acts. (New York Post)

One unfun thing: NYC has officially beat Los Angeles for the worst traffic in the country. (The Hill)

  • Microsoft has launched Accelerate New York, a citywide initiative in collaboration with the mayor’s office, to support economic recovery, increase digital skills, and prepare New York’s workforce for the 21st century. (PIX 11)

  • Citigroup will give its employees the option of working from home at least part of the time, setting the bank apart from some rivals that are taking a more hard-line approach to remote work. (Bloomberg)

  • Uber will roll out a hybrid return-to-work model this fall, allowing for a more flexible approach to location and time spent in the office. The company is asking employees to be in the office 50 percent of the time. That time can be split up in whatever way works best for employees and their teams. (CNBC)

  • Flexport, a Bay Area unicorn and logistics technology company, is on the move. The company expanded their office space taking 30,000 square feet (aka the entire fourth floor) of 50 W 23rd St. (Crain’s New York)

In other reading:

  • Slack launches Huddles, Discord-like audio calls you can hop in and out of (The Verge)

  • We hate the office. We love the office. Do we want to go back? (Washington Post)

  • Wall Street Bosses Want Their Workers Back. That's Good For The King Of Falafel (NPR)

  • Bolttech, a New York-based insurance matching platform, raised $180 million in Series A funding. Activant Capital led, and was joined by Tony Fadell, Alpha Leonis Partners, Dowling Capital Partners, B. Riley VC, and Tarsadia Investments. (Newswire)

  • Daylight, a New York-based digital banking platform for the LGBTQ community, raised $5 million in seed funding. Kapor Capital and Precursor Capital co-led, and were joined by Anthemis Group, Clocktower, Financial Venture Studio, and Citi. (TechCrunch)

  • Entera, a New York-based platform for single-family property investors, raised $32 million in Series A funding. Goldman Sachs led, and was joined by insiders Bullpen Capital, Craft Ventures, and Valuestream Ventures. (BusinessWire)

  • Pietra, a New York-based platform for helping creators form product lines, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Founders Fund led, and was joined by Andreessen Horowitz, TQ Ventures, and Abstract Ventures. (TechCrunch)

  • Sword Health, a New York-based maker of physical therapy hardware, raised $85 million in Series C funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by Bond, Highmark Ventures, BPEA, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, Transformation Capital, and Green Innovations. (TechCrunch)

  • July 8: Virtual: How to Pitch to VCs and Angel Investors, with New York Angels founder David S. Rose, Bread and Butter Ventures head of platform Stephanie Rich, AI Ventures managing partner Callum Bir, and others. Hosted by DownToDash. Register here.

  • July 13: Virtual: Redefining Industries with the Power of 5G, with Newlab 5G Studio Cohort 2 companies Easy Aerial, EVPassport, and others. Hosted by Newlab. Register here.

Open Restaurants aside, here’s a look at some new restaurants that have recently opened and honor (through tater tots, disco balls, etc.) their beloved predecessors. (Eater NY) And, if you have any curiosity about the new Eleven Madison Park vegan menu, New York Magazine has answers.

Need somewhere to go this weekend? Black Restaurant Week is taking place through July 4. 

Also, apparently, Bumble is opening a “café & wine bar” in Nolita. (

)

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.