Tech:NYC Digest: June 13

Tech:NYC Digest: June 13

June 13, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

In today’s digest, rising stress levels at work, the return of summer streets (across all five boroughs), and the surprising new day that restaurants are busy. 

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  • Office building occupancies in the New York metro area hit 50.5% of pre-pandemic levels last week, according to data from security firm Kastle Systems. This was up 4.2 percentage points from the week before, and the first time building occupancy exceeded 50% since March 2020. (Bloomberg)

  • NYC Summer Streets are back: The city is making about 20 miles of streets car-free on various Saturdays this summer. (amNewYork)

    • Spread across five Saturdays, in all five boroughs, this year’s Summer Streets program will more than double the amount of space made available in 2022. More information (including when and where) here.

  • Following last week’s smoke crisis (and new lived experience among those residing on the east coast) Western lawmakers are pushing legislation to help establish public clean air centers and distribute air filtration units to certain households in areas affected by wildfires.(Axios) The Cleaner Air Spaces Act would:

    • Direct the Environmental Protection Agency to provide grants of up to $3 million to state and local air pollution agencies and community organizations.

    • Provide a minimum of 1,000 filtration units to low-income households with vulnerable residents.

    • Provide educational materials on setting up clean air rooms and to advertise the public centers during wildfires.

In other reading:

  • Park picnics, beach trips and frozen treats: A NYC summer eating bucket list (The New York Times)

  • There's a new plan to encourage Upper East Siders to pick up after their pups (Gothamist) 

  • For many city restaurants, Tuesdays are the new Fridays (New York Post)

Through each stage of the pandemic-era workplace — fully remote; hybrid; flexible — there has been one consistency: Rising employee stress. 

  • Following two years of reports about burnout and quiet quitting, American workers say they are feeling more stressed and less engaged at their jobs compared to last year, according to a new survey of more than 60,000 U.S. workers by Gallup. (The Wall Street Journal) 

  • More than half of workers in the U.S. and Canada reported feeling a lot of stress at work, according to Gallup. 

Engagement > in-office. Feeling engaged on the job had had a bigger impact on stress levels than whether or not employees could work remotely, Gallup found. On the other hand, working arrangements certainly can affect employee engagement levels. 

  • Employers have been monitoring rising stress levels. In response, 9 out of 10 organizations now offer some type of wellness program to employees—including yoga classes, paid subscriptions to meditation apps, or even extra days off from work for mental health care. (Fast Company)

  • Gallup found that workers who reported feeling stressed, or who described their actions as quiet quitting, were looking for a combination of things, including: 

    • More recognition, opportunities to learn, fair treatment, clearer goals and better managers.

  • In an effort to ameliorate a lack of engagement, whether remote, hybrid, in-office, metaversed, etc, Gallup recommends managers have at least one meaningful conversation–focused on recognition, collaboration, goals and priorities and strengths–with each employee, each week. 

In other reading:

  • In April 2023, as many companies were calling workers back into the office, Google searches for “what to talk about at work” grew. (HR Brew) 

  • The push to get employees into the office on a hybrid schedule is getting more aggressive. (Axios) 

  • Uniswap Labs announced its vision for the next iteration of the Uniswap crypto exchange platform: Uniswap v4. (CoinDesk)

  • Ten Thousand, a NYC-based men’s activewear brand, raised $21.5 million in Series A funding. Provenance led the round and was joined by Fernbrook Capital and Alfa Ventures. 

  • Rex, a New York-based recommendations app, raised $3.96 million in funding. Accel, Khosla Ventures, Future Positive and other angels invested in the round.

  • June 14: Make It in Brooklyn: Clean Energy Innovations, with itselectric co-founder Tiya Gordon, Streetlife Ventures managing partner Laura Fox, Latinxs in Sustainability lead Melina Acevedo, and Wildgrid partnerships manager Martine Luis. Hosted by Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. Register here.

  • June 26: Virtual: #notapitch: Unofficial Feedback on Your Idea/Prototype from a VC, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Register here.

  • June 20: In-person: Future-Proofing Your Digital Product and Brand with AI, Innovatemap principals Jon Moore and Meghan Pfeifer. Register here.

  • June 20: In-person: LGBT+ VC Summit: From Stonewall to Silicon Valley, featuring keynote speaker David Karp, founder and former CEO of Tumblr. Register here.

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