Tech:NYC Digest: July 20

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Wednesday, July 20, 2022 

In today’s digest, New York ramps up its monkeypox defense strategy, how to keep your devices cool this summer, and why workers are ignoring your company’s RTO rules — and getting away with it.

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By the numbers:  

• New positive cases statewide: 8,805   

  • New positive cases, NYC: 5,131

• NYC Positivity Rate (Daily): 10.0%

  • NYC Positivity Rate (7-Day Average): 9.0%

In today’s latest: 

• Gov. Hochul, along with state Dept. of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett, announced new efforts to contain the spike in monkeypox cases statewide. More resources are now available here.

  • 711 people in NYC have now tested positive for monkeypox, and nearly 26,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine (which are finally making their way to New York after being stuck in Denmark) will become available.

  • White House COVID-19 response coordinator also made a virtual appearance, saying “New York absolutely needs and deserves those doses.” (Politico)

• The US House of Representatives passed a bill that would recognize same-sex marriages at the federal level, with a bipartisan coalition supporting a measure that addresses growing concerns that a conservative Supreme Court could nullify marriage equality following the Dobbs decision. (New York Times)

  • All but one New York representative voted in favor of the bill. (City & State)

• New York City will extend pool hours at most public pools as it faces seven straight days of 90+ degree weather. Those pools will be open between 11 am to 3 pm and 4 pm until 8 pm. (Gothamist) Public cooling centers are also open in every borough.

• Broadway has extended its 'optional' mask policy through the month of August at all 41 theaters. (NBC New York)

• And some news you can use (especially this week): how to keep your phone cool and working in a heat wave. 

In other reading:

• From COVID to Travel Delays, Is There Hope for a Good Summer? (New York Times)

• The Everything-Is-Weird Economy (The Atlantic)

• The French Bulldog Drama Consuming French-Bulldog New York (Curbed)

It’s another COVID summer: Albany reporter Kate Lisa pointed out that, if this year is like the last two, we’re entering the time when New York starts seeing an uptick in cases that continues through the fall.

Meanwhile, many companies have made more prescriptive decisions about RTO and hybrid work rules. But the variability in seasonal case counts — and infection risk — isn’t helping when it comes to enforcement.

So companies with RTO rules are running into one problem: workers just aren’t following them. (Fortune)

• A new survey on WFH attitudes found that 35% of employees believe their boss would probably do nothing if they or their coworkers didn't put in the necessary amount of time at the workplace. (Forbes)

• The survey also asked employees what their employers did in response to those who worked in-person fewer days than expected. The common answer: nothing.

• Full-time work in the office is less popular than ever. According to another new survey from Slack’s Future Forum research arm, just 20% of knowledge workers want to work in the office full-time — less than any other point in the last two years.

What it means: Workers remain in the driver’s seat when it comes to post-pandemic company culture. Companies are bending to employee demands in an effort to retain talent.  

• Those demands go so far as the shift to a four-day workweek, which several US companies are still testing out to see what it means for employee retention and productivity.

• Others are advocating for a shorter workday instead, claiming less hours across the same amount of days is more effective for businesses but also a win for workers.

• And of course, Summer Fridays, a seasonal tradition in tech, remain in full effect. 

In other reading:

• Hey, Is Anybody Watching the Interns? (New York Times)

• ​​How Fair Is Your Workplace? (Harvard Business Review)

• Manhattan’s Private Clubs Offer a New Social Lifeline to Remote Workers (Wall Street Journal)

• Charter, a NYC-based media and insights startup, raised $3 million in seed funding. Bloomberg Beta led the round and was joined by Precursor Ventures, The Fund, Old Town Media, and others. (Axios)

• Healthie, a NYC-based digital health infrastructure startup, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Velvet Sea Ventures led the round and was joined by Greymatter Capital, Watershed, Builders VC, and others. (TechCrunch)

• Koffie Insurance, a Brooklyn-based insurance company for the trucking and transportation sector, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Anthemis Group led the round and was joined by Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, CP Overture, Breakout Capital, Two Lanterns Venture Partners, and others. (Newswire)

• Priori Legal, a NYC-based legal marketplace for in-house legal teams, raised $15 million in extended. Series A funding. Eagle Proprietary Investments led the round and was joined by Thomson Reuters Ventures, The LegalTechFund, Thirty Five Ventures, Peak6 Strategic Capital, Soma Ventures, Bridge Investments, Great Oaks Venture Capital, HearstLab, Mindset Ventures, and Jambhala. (Insider)

URBAN-X, together with VC fund JVP, is accepting applications for its next cohort. Seed to Series B climatetech and urbantech startups building solutions to tackle climate change and create more livable cities are eligible to apply on a rolling basis now. Learn more and apply here.Cela Innovation is seeking founders for its next Office Hours installment. Cela brings together early-stage entrepreneurs with leading accelerator program leaders and investors for one-on-one matches with mentors. Learn more and apply for the July 26 virtual event here.Off the Record, a private community for venture-backed startup founders, is accepting applications for its Q3 cohort. Learn more and apply by July 20 here.Endless Frontier Labs, an accelerator for early-stage science and technology startups founded at NYU Stern School of Business, is accepting applications for its 2022-2023 cohort. The program takes no equity and doesn’t require an NYU affiliation. Learn more and apply by August 1 here.

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