Tech:NYC Digest: June 27

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Monday, June 27, 2022 

In today’s digest, how companies are responding to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, what New York lawmakers are doing to limit its impact here at home, and what to know about tomorrow’s primary. Don’t forget to vote! Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here. 

By the numbers:  

• New positive cases statewide: 3,289

  • New positive cases, NYC: 2,256

• NYC Positivity Rate: 4.3 percent (no change)

• Statewide Vaccine Progress:

  • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 90.9 percent

  • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 77.6 percent

In today’s latest: 

• Soon after the Supreme Court announced its decision Friday striking down Roe v. Wade and giving the states the power to decide abortion regulations, New York electeds responded in several ways:

  • Gov. Hochul (and Gov.Murphy of New Jersey) are preparing to serve as a safe harbor for those seeking reproductive care. (Gothamist)

    • Previously, anticipating the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Gov. Hochul signed a series of bills strengthening abortion access by protecting abortions providers from getting sued by other states where abortions are illegal. (NY1) 

    • New York state had also set aside $35 million for those from restrictive states seeking abortions in New York. (Spectrum Local News) 

      • Abortion providers will be given $25 million to expand infrastructure and capacity as an influx of people are expected to arrive in New York for reproductive care.

      •  An additional $10 million will be used to boost security of the facilities providing care. 

  • Mayor Adams announced plans to launch a hotline to share information, a plan to expand provider access, and an intent to make the city a “safe haven” for anyone, from anywhere, seeking an abortion. (THE CITY)

    • New York City also allocates municipal funds specifically for abortions. The city budgets $250,000 for this fund each year since the fund was set up in 2019. About a third of the roughly 600 people served by these funds are from out of state.

• Tomorrow is Primary Day! Or rather, the first of two primary elections to be held this summer.

  • Voters will choose the Democratic and Republican nominees for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Assembly Members from across the state. One’s ballot may also show candidates for local races including judgeships, state committee members, and district leaders. (The August 23rd Primary will let voters choose nominees for Congress and State Senate seats. The general election will be held on November 8th.)

    • NYC residents can find both their poll site and candidates running in their district here.

    • For those outside of NYC, you can confirm your polling location here. 

  • Tech:NYC has prepared a voters’ guide for the 2022 elections, where you can find additional details on how and when to vote.

• A panel of independent experts advising the FDA is set to recommend on Tuesday whether to update existing Covid-19 vaccines to target a newer version of the coronavirus in a booster shot that Americans could get in the fall. (New York Times)

  • Supporting this premise is that two Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine boosters updated to target the Omicron variant showed a substantially higher immune response than the current Covid-19 vaccine. (CNN)

In other reading

:

• Thousands Protest in New York After Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade (New York Times)

• How Green Became the International Color of Abortion Rights (Bloomberg)

• New York City’s Noncitizen Voting Law is Struck Down (New York Times)

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to reverse Roe v. Wade, several tech companies have moved swiftly to provide support and financial assistance to employees seeking abortions in states that now, or are expected to, outlaw the procedure.

Several tech companies have promised healthcare-related support.

• Following the leaked draft opinion in May, many companies, including Amazon, Apple, Citgroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Microsoft, pledged to cover the cost of abortion and travel expenses – both in part or in full – for workers in the affected states. 

• On Friday, Facebook parent Meta Platforms and others announced they, too, would offer assistance with abortion- and travel-related costs for employees who cannot access reproductive healthcare and other services in their home state.

Others are taking it a step further and allowing employees to relocate to states where abortion is legal.

• Salesforce told employees in May the company would help them relocate if they were worried about access to abortions or other medical procedures.

• Google sent a company-wide email Friday stating employees in affected states can apply for relocation without explaining why. 

Some are showing support for and making donations to pro-choice advocacy organizations.

• Twilio plans to donate $100,000 to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

In other reading:

• Tech companies face tough decisions after Roe v. Wade overturned (Axios)

• What the Roe v. Wade ruling means for tech companies and reproductive privacy (Yahoo Finance)

• What’s next for tech in a post-Roe world (Protocol)

• Kasheesh, a NYC-based digital payment platform, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. Participating investors include Tribe Capital, Anthemis, Courtside Ventures, and a group of individuals. (FinSMEs)

• Kins, a NYC-based hybrid care physical therapy practice, raised $4 million in seed funding. W Health Ventures led the round. (FinSMEs)

• Octane11, a NYC-based B2B data platform, raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Javelin Venture Partners led the round and was joined by BDMI, Honeystone Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Base Ventures, Circadian Ventures, AperiamVentures, and a group of angels. (Newswire)

• Synop, a NYC-based electric vehicle fleet operations platform, raised $10.1 million in seed funding. Obvious Ventures led the round and was joined by Wireframe Ventures, Congruent, and Better Ventures. (FinSMEs)

• June 28: Virtual: Pro Insights: Retail, with Meta global business group vice president Eva Press and Macellum Capital Management CEO Jonathan Duskin. Hosted by Axios. Register here.

• June 29: In-person: AMA with Primetime Partners co-founder and chairperson Alan Patricof, with Betaworks CEO John Borthwick. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. Register here.

• July 19: In-person: Bloomberg Crypto Summit, with FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader, Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here.

• July 20: In-person: The City’s Path to Becoming the World’s Crypto Capital, with New York State Dept. of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris, eToro US CEO Lule Demmissie, Genesis CEO Michael Moro, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here.

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