Tech:NYC Digest: March 12

View this email in your browser

Friday, March 12, 2021As the vaccination rollout progresses and NYC continues to respond to the pandemic, this digest focuses on the resources that help you make decisions about your businesses and your lives as New Yorkers.Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

The latest: Biden wants vaccine eligibility expanded to all adults by May 1; Broadway League president says shows to return come fall; new poll finds 45 percent of Manhattan workers expect to return to the office in Sept.; Cuomo to sign bill requiring all employers give four hours paid leave per vaccine shot.

By the Numbers:

• New York State: 1,715,863 (+9,299)  

• New York City: 757,640 (+5,081) 

• Statewide Fatalities: 39,385 (+74)

• NYC Positivity Rates:

  • NYS reports: 4.0 percent (+0.1 percent)

  • NYC reports: 6.3 percent (-0.1 percent)

• Vaccine Progress:

  • NYS first doses administered: 4,199,428

  • NYC first doses administered: 1,793,632

General Updates:

• The percent of New Yorkers who have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine has now surpassed 20 percent. Six million total doses have been administered statewide to date, including more than one million doses through the state’s distribution network in just the last seven days. (NYS)

• In his address last night, Pres. Biden announced he will direct all states and territories to make all adults eligible for the vaccine no later than May 1st. (Axios) The directive is part of his goal to get the country “closer to normal” by July 4th.

• The state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie gave the go-ahead last night for lawmakers to move forward with an impeachment inquiry into Gov. Cuomo, starting a process to conduct their own investigation into ongoing sexual harassment claims and the handling of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes. (New York Times)

  • Today, 14 House Democrats from New York have added their names to a growing list of elected officials now calling on the governor to resign. (Axios) Here’s the full list so far.

• Lastly, remember to set your clocks to spring forward this Sunday! Some lawmakers are even considering making Daylight Saving Time permanent year-round. (Washington Post)

Two good reads: many of us are tapped out on all the ‘one year of COVID’ stories this week — we understand, you’d much rather forget it! — but this series is a simple, wonderfully-presented set of essays about what the last year has felt like. (New York Times) And as we reflect, it’s equally worth remembering: there is no one pandemic anniversary, but millions of them. (The Atlantic)

The latest results: Today marks Pres. Biden’s 50th day in office — depending on who you ask. (Some say it’s day 51, but his staff asserts that inauguration day did not count, making today, when he signs the American Rescue Plan into law and gives his first primetime address, the nice even number 50.) How do you feel about our current president?

Today's poll

: In his first primetime address last night, Pres. Biden said he would advise all states and territories to make the vaccine available to all adults on May 1st, a deadline he says could return life to fairly “normal” by July 4th. How do you think you’ll be celebrating Independence Day this year?

• *|SURVEY: I think I will celebrate the holiday like normal|*

• *|SURVEY: I think I will celebrate the holiday, but it will look different|*

• *|SURVEY: I don't think I will celebrate the holiday this year|*

Find the poll results from all previous editions of this newsletter here.

• Gov. Cuomo announced he is signing a bill that will extend death benefits for the families of frontline workers who passed due to COVID-19 until 2022. (ABC Albany)

• A new peer-reviewed study showed that in-person learning in NYC public schools was not associated with an increase in COVID-19 infections compared to the general community. (Bloomberg)

• The president of the Broadway League said theatre productions are expected to reopen to audiences this fall. (New York Post) Some of the long-running favorites like The Lion King and Wicked will likely be the first to reopen, but there’s still a lot to figure out when it comes to audience protocols — proof of testing or vaccination, social distancing and what financially viable capacity levels would be, among them. 

• A new partnership with AmEx and Resy is constructing cozy “outdoor villages” at more than 30 of NYC’s restaurants. Get more details here.

Related reading:

• Some fresh tips on how to defog your glasses when wearing a mask (New York Times)

• Abandoning masks now is a terrible idea. The 1918 pandemic shows why. (Washington Post)

• New York Grocery Stores Are Uniquely Weird. That’s Why They’re Important (Grub Street)

Working:

• According to a new poll, fewer than half of Manhattan officer workers are expected to return to their offices by September. (New York Business Journal) In a survey conducted in the last two weeks, just 10 percent said they had returned to the office, unchanged from October.

  • As much as 56 percent expect to continue long-term remote work, at least part-time, and the vast majority also expect a sustained decline in business travel. 

• Gov. Cuomo signed a bill that will require employers to give every employee, public and private, at least four hours of paid time off per shot to get the vaccine. (NBC Albany)

Related reading:

• New York's top tech firms boost headcount in 2020 (Crain’s NY)

• 12 business executives on how they lead their teams through crisis (Fast Company)

Request: please let us know as your return-to-office policies are developed and what considerations your companies are taking for developing them. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous.

Recruit: A tech talent and job opportunities board from Tech:NYC and AlleyCorp compiles NYC tech workers looking for new roles and NYC-based tech companies hiring open positions. To contribute to the board, click here.Events:

• March 16: Virtual: A Conversation with Lisa Lewin, CEO of General Assembly. Hosted by Tech:NYC, Cornell Tech, and Bloomberg. (Details)

• March 18: Virtual: #notapitch: Unofficial Feedback on Your Idea/Prototype from a VC, with Brooklyn Bridge Ventures partner Charlie O’Donnell. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. (Details)

• March 18: Virtual: Frank Conversations with Women Founders and Funders, with The Cru founder Tiffany Dufu and Techstars NYC managing director Jenny Fielding. Hosted by NY Ventures and NYSTAR. (Details)

Check these sources for verified information from government agencies and public health authorities:

• New York State Department of Health

• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

• Centers for Disease Control

• World Health Organization

• Sign up for Gov. Cuomo’s nightly updates

• Download COVID Alert NY, New York's contact tracing app

Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to

receive it directly here

.