Tech:NYC Digest: June 10

Tech:NYC Digest: June 10

June 10, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Friday June 10, 2022 

We’re back with another summer Friday edition of the Tech:NYC Digest, featuring our favorite five highlights in New York tech this week. Have a good weekend! 

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CEOs call on Senate to pass gun legislation (Axios)

  • The CEOs of some of NYC’s top tech employers — including AlleyCorp, MongoDB, Revel, Ro, Shutterstock, Via, Vimeo, and Zola — joined more than 200 other business leaders to assert why action on gun violence is an urgent economic issue: “Gun violence costs American taxpayers, employers, and communities a staggering $280 billion per year. Employers lose $1.4 million every day in productivity and revenue, and costs associated with victims of gun violence.” 

Jay-Z Unveils ‘Bitcoin Academy’ for Brooklyn Public Housing Residents (CoinDesk)

  • Jay-Z is teaming up with Jack Dorsey to provide Bitcoin and other financial literacy courses to residents of the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, where Jay-Z grew up. This summer, participants will be given smartphones, MiFi devices, and data plans to complete a curriculum that aims to break down the barriers of entry to financial services for marginalized communities. 

NYC mayors, Cornell presidents celebrate 10 years of Cornell Tech (Cornell Tech)

  • Mayors past and present — Michael Bloomberg and Eric Adams — and other tech leaders gathered on Roosevelt Island to celebrate ten years since Cornell Tech launched in 2012. What started as a handful of students based out of Google’s NYC HQ has grown to 1,500 alumni and 80 startup spinouts (many of whom we’re glad to call Tech:NYC members!) that have collectively raised more than $150 million in funding. 

Six CUNY community colleges adopt a short-term tech training with $5M grant (Crain’s New York Business)

  • The first cohort of CUNY students participating in software engineering and web development training programs received their certificates this week — many with jobs in hand. About 40 percent of the city's working-age population doesn’t have a Bachelor’s degree, and more tech companies are dropping candidate education requirements to attract a more diverse talent pool. Programs like this are a critical resource to making those matches happen, and we’re excited to support their long-term success.

NYC is A Lot Safer Than Small-Town America (Bloomberg)

  • When we talk to Tech:NYC member companies about their RTO strategies, executives say the ability to safely travel to and from the office is as important as what’s happening inside of it. Public safety and quality of life issues consistently rank high on what it takes to foster healthy business climates, and while recent incidents of violence shouldn’t be dismissed, NYC is among the safest places to live in the country. The city’s homicide rate in 2021 was a fifth of what it was in 1990.

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