Tech:NYC Digest: June 1

Tech:NYC Digest: June 1

June 01, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Welcome back and happy June!

  • One 👏 thing: NYC reported zero deaths yesterday, as well as its lowest positivity rate at 0.8 percent since the pandemic began. Vaccines work, let’s keep it up!

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The Gateway Tunnel Project is one step closer to reality. (New York Times) On Friday, the Biden Administration approved plans for the long-awaited new rail tunnel system underneath the Hudson River, connecting New York’s Penn Station to New Jersey’s Bergen Palisades. 

It took a long time to get here: The project was unveiled in 2011, one year after then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cancelled a somewhat similar Access to the Region's Core project. (Spectrum News)

  • Environmental studies were completed three years ago, but under the Trump administration, the federal Department of Transportation did not respond to the application, and the Trump Administration was largely blamed for playing political football with the project.

The details: With the environmental assessments stamped, the project can now push ahead with engineering and design work. 

  • The plan calls for the construction of a new two-track Hudson rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan, as well as the rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel, which sustained significant damage during Superstorm Sandy. The objective is that the upgrades will maintain the current level of service provided by Amtrak and NJ Transit while also improving overall reliability and resiliency of the rail conduit.

  • Under the current construction timetable, the new tunnels would be built in eight years, but planners hope it can be completed before the end of the decade.

The money: Funding for the $11.6 billion project is still in the works. (Wall Street Journal) Much of the money could come from the massive infrastructure bill being debated by lawmakers in Congress right now. Both governors have agreed to split the cost with the federal government, but with both being up for reelection in 2022, those commitments could change.

  • Nearly $5.5 billion in federal funds is being requested — about 44 percent of the total project cost. Amtrak has committed nearly $1.3 billion, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will chip in $2.1 billion, and the remaining $3.35 billion would be split using state funds. (The Record)

The big picture: The proposed rail tunnel is part of the larger Gateway project, which is a potentially $30 billion undertaking overseen by Amtrak and officials from New York and New Jersey. Other elements of the program include modernizing Penn Station, repairing two century-old tunnels damaged during Superstorm Sandy, and doubling passenger-rail capacity between the two states. (The Real Deal)

In other reading:

  • Lines Never Felt So Good: Crowds Herald New York’s Reopening (New York Times)

  • Will New York’s Excelsior Pass, The Country’s First Vaccine Passport, Catch On? (New York Times)

  • 7 Podcasts to Soothe Your Back-to-Normal Anxiety (New York Times)

The city is opening up, and our local economy is showing signs of coming back to life. The mayor announced a much better than expected budget last month, consumer credit spending has increased nearly 38 percent year-over-year, and the supposed mass exodus wasn’t really an exodus after all. (Insider) But still, the unemployment rate remains at a troublingly high 11.4 percent, even with roughly 300,000 jobs available in New York City. So what’s going on? (Crain's New York)

Blaming benefits: Some point to the federal and state unemployment benefit supplemental assistance programs provided through the CARES Act and Pres. Biden’s American Rescue Plan as fueling the labor shortage. To encourage people to go back to work, at least 23 states have ended the supplement early, claiming they provide too much incentive for laid-off workers to delay a return to the workforce, making it harder for businesses to hire. 

  • But in NYC, many economists say the benefit, which maxes out around $800 a week, is hardly the driving force behind the labor market's mismatch.

Employee preparedness: Not all skills translate between industries, and the pandemic has made reskilling opportunities a key component to providing what General Assembly CEO Lisa Lewin calls “pandemic-proof, recession-proof” careers. (Insider) Four out of five open jobs ask applicants to have a bachelor's degree, data from the Partnership for New York City show. But 43 percent of the city's labor force has no more than a high school or high school equivalency degree, Opportunity@Work found.

  • Compared to the other major industries in New York, tech jobs have grown the most over the last year. According to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future, demand for technological roles was double that of finance, triple that of marketing, and five times larger than hospitality or education. 

  • Research recently released by Tech:NYC and Accenture indeed found companies are looking to hire employees skilled in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and cloud expertise. A majority of respondents said they are confident they can find the tech talent they need in New York.

  • To make sure that remains true, CUF says we can be doing more to ensure New Yorkers are ready to fill these jobs. A bold, long-term initiative to expand and improve the tech skills-building ecosystem, backed up by a significant public investment, is needed. (Gotham Gazette)

Location, location, location: With more people working remotely, many tech firms may be open to hiring workers from elsewhere in the country if they have the specific qualifications they’re looking for. This is one reason among many why it’s so important to support tech skills training programs and computer science education in NYC schools — we must ensure companies can find the talent they need right here in NYC for years to come. 

In other news:

  • The EEOC issued updated guidance that says federal law doesn’t stand in the way of employers requiring the vaccine or offering unlimited incentives to get vaccinated. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Commercial landlords have proven to be more willing to negotiate in the recent real estate market, and entrepreneurs are seizing the most to move or expand. (New York Times)

Further reading:

  • Can I Ask Co-Workers if They’ve Had the COVID Vaccine? (New York Times)

  • You’re Going Back to the Office Here Is What Your Day Might Look Like. (Wall Street Journal)

  • What does it take to be a good remote worker? (Boston Globe)

As of yesterday, the indoor dining curfew was fully lifted in NYC, allowing restaurants and bars to stay open however late their license provides. While some outdoor dining is still limited by a midnight curfew, there are effectively no sweeping restrictions on New York eateries as the city marks its lowest positivity rate since the pandemic began. In the last month, have you patronized a restaurant? (This is a recurring question, responses help Tech:NYC track trends over time.)

  • *|SURVEY: Yes, I've dined indoors|*

  • *|SURVEY: Yes, I've dined outdoors|*

  • *|SURVEY: Yes, both|*

  • *|SURVEY: Yes, but only takeout/delivery|*

  • *|SURVEY: No|*

  • DataDome, a New York City-based AI platform that protects e-commerce businesses from bots and fraud, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Elephant led the round and was joined by investors including ISAI. (VentureBeat)

  • Infinite Objects, a New York-based art hardware startup, raised $6 million. Courtside VC led, and was joined by Dapper Labs. (TechCrunch)

  • Sprinklr, a New York-based customer experience management platform, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (CXM) and raised around $880 million from firms like Hellman & Friedman, Battery Ventures, Iconiq, Sixth Street, JC2 Ventures and Revolution. (Crain’s NY)

  • June 1 – 3: Virtual: URBAN-X Summit, with Cohort 09 companies, including OONEE CEO Shabazz Stuart, Dorothy CEO Arianna Armelli, Singularity CEO Wenbo Shi, and others. Hosted by URBAN-X and Canary Media. Register here.

  • June 8: Virtual: Startup CXO: Scaling Up Your Company’s Critical Functions and Teams, with Bolster co-founder and CEO Matt Blumberg. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. Register here.

  • June 9: Virtual: Cap Tables, Fundraising, and Early Stage Startups, with Techstars managing director KJ Singh. Hosted by brunchwork. Register here.

  • June 9: Virtual: Machines + Media 2021: Facing the Future, with Tech:NYC founder and executive director Julie Samuels, Primary Venture Partners co-founder Ben Sun, NYCEDC Senior Vice President of Tech Karen Bhatia, and more. Hosted by NYC Media Lab and Bloomberg. Register here.

Happy #Pride! 

🌈

After being canceled last year due to the pandemic, the PrideFest street fair and Pride March are back! The month kicked off from the very top, with Pres. Biden officially recognizing June 1 as

earlier today.

Whether you’re excited to get back to in-person celebrations or still sticking to virtual for now, there are plenty of events to be a part of all month long.

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