Tech:NYC Digest: July 17

Tech:NYC Digest: July 17

July 17, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Monday, July 17, 2023

In today’s digest, how tech workers qualify what counts as a “sick day” in the hybrid workplace, a new NYPD commissioner is named, and what to know about the city’s hottest apartment market.

  • ICYMI: For today’s inaugural edition of Axios AI+, several tech leaders (including our president Julie Samuels) were asked to each answer the same question: What’s the single most important thing that people should be doing to prepare for AI? Here’s what they had to say.

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  • Yet again, another round of wildfire smoke has arrived in New York, prompting air quality warnings in every county of the state. City officials are urging residents most vulnerable to the smoke to take precautions. (amNewYork)

    • Resource reminder: You can check your air quality at AirNow.gov and sign up for alerts from the City here. 

  • NYC has a new police commissioner: Mayor Eric Adams officially named Edward Caban to the role on Monday. Caban is the first Latino to lead the NYPD and had been serving in the role on an interim basis since late June. (NY1) 

  • Thousands of projects are in the works across New York to combat the effects of climate change, including rethinking flood-resistant housing, updating weather models and racing to manage overflow rain. But many will take decades to complete, and there are concerns over whether it will be enough. (New York Times) 

In other reading:

  • City Hall Pitches 34,000-Seat Cricket Stadium in Van Cortlandt Park (THE CITY)

  • This Bronx Neighborhood Is One of NYC’s Hottest Apartment Markets (Wall Street Journal) 

  • Bringing back the automat (Axios)

COVID-19 undoubtedly brought more attention to health in the workplace (and everywhere else), but it doesn’t seem to have shifted attitudes about taking a sick day. 

Many Americans are still trying to “push through” work while they’re feeling sick, according to a recent study conducted by BambooHR. (Fast Company)

  • According to the survey of 1,500 US  knowledge workers, 89% still show up to work when they’re under the weather, and 45% do so because they don’t want to use one of their limited paid sick days

Providing sick days does not guarantee they will be taken. 

  • New York is one of 14 states that require employers to offer paid sick time, and New York City has had a paid sick leave law since 2014. 

  • But several factors can get in the way of taking those days: More than two-thirds of workers experience stress, guilt, fear, or anxiety when calling in sick.

  • Meanwhile, 80% of managers admitted to being skeptical of certain sick day requests.

There may be a remote-work effect. The option to plug-in from home raised the bar for what qualifies as sick-day worthy:

  • “[Remote work] definitely increased the probability that we’ll work when we’re sick. It’s like, ‘Hey, you’re away from people, you can’t contaminate me, you might as well be on the call,"' as Anita Grantham, BambooHR’s head of human resources, told Fast Company.

Managers can lead by example: “Especially if you’re a leader of people, you have to show that you prioritize self-care,” Grantham told Fast Company. “We should be more consistent, and if you’re a CEO and you’re sick you shouldn’t come in.”

In other reading:

  • Aktivate, a NYC-based scholastic sports management software provider, raised $3.7 million Series A funding. Will Ventures, Tal Ventures, and Benson Oak Ventures co-led the round and were joined by 97212 and Tieferes Ventures.

  • Distributed Ventures, a NYC- and Chicago-based venture capital firm, raised $100 million for a fund focused on early-stage investments across insurtech, healthtech, and fintech verticals.

  • Infinite Canvas, a NYC-based user-generated gaming studio-publisher, raised $6 million in seed funding. BITKRAFT led the round and was joined by HBSE, Warner Music Group, J Ventures, Lightshed, Day One Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Crossbeam.

  • Nomic AI, a NYC-based AI explainability and accessibility company, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Coatue led the round and was joined by Contrary Capital, Betaworks Ventures, SV Angel, Story Ventures, Factorial Capital, and other angels.

  • Roi, a NYC-based investing app, raised $3.6 million in funding. Spark Capital led the round and was joined by Gradient Ventures, 35 Ventures, 500 Startups, and Contrary Capital.

  • July 19: In-person: Building a Proptech Startup, with Moved president Caren Maio, Stak Mobility CEO Diallo Powell, a16z partner Sumeet Singh, and Common founder Brad Hargreaves. Hosted by Stacklist. Register here.

  • July 26: In-person: Responsible Tech Mixer and Summer Celebration. Hosted by All Tech is Human and Betaworks. Register here.

  • July 27: In-person: No Stupid AI Questions, with Malamute CEO Matt Freed, former Ro head of ML Liz mcQuillan, and New York AI founder Derek Larson. Hosted by Company Ventures and New York AI. Register here.

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