Tech:NYC Digest: May 10

Tech:NYC Digest: May 10

May 10, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

In today’s digest, NYC gets one step closer to congestion pricing, what the end of the COVID national emergency means for tests and treatments, and NYC workers finally settle into their office routines. 

  • Plus, a big shout-out to the Tech:NYC members on this year’s #Disruptor50 list! Congrats to Maven, Spring Health, Ramp, BlocPower, Bowery, and many others!

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  • Federal officials have given their blessing to NYC’s congestion pricing plan, the first in the country, to advance to the final stages before full approval. (Curbed) Based on the current time frame, the MTA says the program could begin as soon as spring 2024.

  • A new foot bridge will allow pedestrians to reach the High Line from Moynihan Train Hall without having to cross multiple streets. It’s expected to open in late June. (New York Times)

  • Thursday is the last day to get COVID tests covered by insurance, as the federal pandemic public health emergency declaration expires. Vaccines, including boosters, will remain free with public and private insurance in most cases. (Axios)

In other reading:

  • 23 Pandemic Decisions That Actually Went Right (The Atlantic)

  • The Title 42 border rule ends Thursday. What does it mean for NYC? (Gothamist)

  • A New Kind of Chinatown — in Long Island City (Grub Street)

As the last remaining pandemic-era rules come to an end — both at the state and federal levels — business leaders say it’s a signal that we’re ready to officially get back to normal. But “normal” isn’t the same normal that was normal before.

What’s new: The first quarter of 2023 logged more New Yorkers going into the office compared to the same time last year, but not by much. (Axios)

  • New data out this week from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and location intelligence startup Placer.ai tracked visits made to 250 Manhattan office buildings and found visitation rates were at 61% of their pre-pandemic baselines.

  • That’s a ten point increase from this time last year, but slightly down from a peak of 65% in the third quarter of last year.

Tech:NYC has been monitoring office occupancy levels over the last few years by cross-referencing data from tools like Placer.ai and Kastle, and the last four quarters have seen  very similar numbers.

  • Any changes have been small enough that it appears the return-to-office in New York has plateaued, settling into a hybrid schedule that will be the longer-term “new normal.”

That could cause more concern for office building landlords, for example, but there are bright spots: What are called “Class A” buildings — the newest and nicest ones — have seen the most new leases signed so far this year. (THE CITY)

  • They’re also seeing the most recurring office attendance. What that means: If you want your employees to come into the office more, make it a nice one with a lot of amenities.

Tech:NYC will continue tracking the latest data on these trends, but it’s safe to say we’ve locked in the routines we expect to stick to moving forward.

In other reading:

  • Layoffs.fyi creator Roger Lee has cataloged hundreds of thousands of tech job cuts, but he still believes the industry will “100 percent” bounce back. (New York Times)

  • IBM chief commercial officer Rob Thomas: "AI may not replace managers. But managers that use AI will replace the managers that do not." (Axios)

  • We tried the video call of the future (Axios)

  • Blockworks, a NYC-based crypto media company, raised $12 million in funding. 10T Holdings led the round and was joined by Framework Ventures and others.

  • BurnerPage, a NYC-based web page optimization platform, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. LDV Capital led the round and was joined by Freestyle Capital and others.

  • CloudBurst Technologies, a NYC-based provider of cyber threat intelligence solutions, raised $3m in seed funding. Strategic Cyber Ventures led the round and was joined by Coinbase Ventures and Bloccelerate.

  • Hackajob, a NYC and London-based technical hiring platform, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Volition Capital led the round and was joined by AXA Venture Partners and Foresight.

  • May 15 – 20: In-person: Bronx Tech Week, featuring events with Techstars NYC managing director Gary Stewart, The Knowledge House CEO Jerelyn Rodriguez, and more. Register here.

  • May 16: In-person: NY Enterprise Technology Meetup, with Arthur CEO Adam Wenchel, MosaicML co-founder Jonathan Frankle, JPMorgan Chase executive director of global tech, AI, & ML Sage Lee, and Morgan Stanley managing director H. David Wu. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

  • May 23: In-person: AAPI Founders, Funders & Friends, a rooftop party for senior business and tech leaders hosted by Andrew Yeung. Apply to attend here.

  • June 1: In-person: A fireside chat with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan on Antitrust, AI, and Innovation. Hosted by Bradley Tusk. Register here.

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