Tech:NYC Digest: July 21

Tech:NYC Digest: July 21

July 21, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

In today’s digest, New York’s street food vendors miss their customers, the Delta variant is calling return-to-office plans into question, and 115 service workers share how they have faced down the last sixteen months.

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Food trucks and cart vendors are a staple of life in NYC, providing easy, fast, and inexpensive meal options for residents and visitors alike. But since the pandemic began, the quick stop at a cart to grab lunch or a snack has been a lot less common. That’s largely still true. (New York Times)

  • Due to the pandemic, street vendors have lost between 70 and 90 percent of their earnings, according to one survey. (Eater NY)

Small business relief funds were unlocked through PPP loans and the CARES Act, but for many street vendors, the application process is confusing and unwieldy. Many other operators don’t qualify due to their immigration status or other reasons.

  • Recognizing this gap, Morgan Stanley, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center (all headquartered in New York) stepped in to provide more than $2 million in funding, offering $1,000 assistance checks to over 2,000 NYC vendors. (CNBC)

Cart operators and vendors are eager for workers to return to the office, because that’s who they largely depend on to make a profit. Most of that customer base hasn’t reappeared, but for the companies that have reopened offices — and want to incentivize their workers to come back — they’re bringing the vendors to their workers.

  • Last month, Goldman began welcoming workers back by paying for their meals from a dozen food trucks and carts parked outside its office. (New York Post)

Earlier this year, the NYC Council voted to lift the caps on the number of street vendor licenses it approved, handing out some 4,000 new licenses in the next decade. The move is also meant to help vendors avoid having to search for them for a significant markup on the underground market. (Eater NY)

In other news:

  • New Yorkers returning to international travel are facing serious delays with passport processing. It can take 18 weeks to get a passport due to COVID-19 pandemic backlogs, and delays are expected to continue for the time being. The latest guidance recommends New Yorkers apply for or renew their passports at least six months in advance. (Gothamist)

  • A study suggests the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may be less effective against the Delta variant. Many who received the shot may need to consider boosters, but federal health officials have not yet recommend second doses. (New York Times)

    • The conclusions are at odds with those from smaller studies published by J&J earlier this month suggesting that a single dose of the vaccine is effective against the variant even eight months after inoculation.

  • The city’s air quality was among the worst in the world as cities across the eastern United States were shrouded in smoke from wildfires raging several thousand miles away on the west coast. State officials advised vulnerable people, such as those with asthma and heart disease, to avoid strenuous outdoor activity. (The Guardian)

    • New Yorkers: it might be time to get yourselves an air-quality app (Curbed)

Many New York-based tech companies have done “soft reopenings” for employees who voluntarily want to return to the office. Many more are in the final stages of planning reopening dates scheduled around Labor Day. In almost all of those cases, fully vaccinated employees have gotten the greenlight to go maskless.

Then the Delta variant entered the picture.

Tech:NYC is hearing from several companies that they’re reconsidering their plans — or adding contingency measures as backup — in case the Delta variant causes another summer spike in the city’s positivity rate.

  • Apple, for instance, has announced it will push its return-to-office plans by at least a month to October 1, and that could be extended further depending on the spread of the virus. (Bloomberg) Store workers, vaccinated or not, are also being strongly urged to start wearing masks again indoors again.

Others are similarly urging masks indoors as an additional precaution, and some are now more seriously considering vaccination mandates if their reopening dates move ahead as planned.

Worst case scenario, the variant forces companies to ditch reopening plans altogether and remain fully remote through most of the year, as the uptick in cases could call employees’ in-person office comfort levels into question. (Forbes)

  • “Now with the potential for a new wave, it would almost be malpractice to make people go back to the office. Even if they pushed for it, employees would likely revolt and stay home.”

Many others are still closely monitoring city and state guidance, and will take their cue from those recommendations. Absent any changes (for now), Wall Street leaders are pressing ahead with bringing employees back to the office, seeking to resume something that resembles normal work life as soon as possible. (Bloomberg)Is your company reconsidering it return-to-office plans as a result of the Delta variant? Let us know by getting in touch here.In related reading:

  • Block Renovation, a Brooklyn-based renovation platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Giant Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including NEA, Morningside, Lerer Hippeau, and Obvious Ventures. (Business Wire)

  • CityRow, a New York-based connected fitness startup, raised $12 million in Series A funding. JW Asset Management led, and was joined by Sol Global and K2. (TechCrunch)

  • Lev, a New York-based commercial real estate lending startup, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Greenspring Associates led, and was joined by First American Title and insiders NFX, Canaan Partners, JLL Spark, Animo Ventures, and Ludlow Ventures. (The Real Deal)

  • Little Spoon, a New York-based children's meal subscription service, raised $44 million in Series B funding. Valor Equity Partners led, and was joined by Kairos HQ. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Titan, a New York-based "operating system for active investment management," raised $58 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by BoxGroup,  Sound Ventures, and a group of professional athletes and celebrities including Odell Beckham Jr., Kevin Durant, Jared Leto, and Will Smith. (TechCrunch)

  • Vitally, a Brooklyn-based customer and sales analytics software maker, raised $9 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round. (TechCrunch)

  • July 22: Virtual: How AI Technology Affects Hiring, with RippleMatch chief of staff Troy LeClaire, Fetcher CEO Andres Banks, and Ordergroove SVP of People Karen Weeks. Hosted by NYCETC and Hot Bread Kitchen. Register here.

  • July 22: Virtual: Protecting New York Summit, with NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Datamir chief strategy officer Peter Bailey, NYC Cyber Deputy CISO Colin Ahern, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

The city’s 2.5 million service workers were at the center of the pandemic as it ravaged New York. Some kept the city running, and others found themselves unemployed indefinitely. This new

about 115 of them is worth your time.

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