Tech:NYC Digest: October 31

Tech:NYC Digest: October 31

October 31, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Happy Halloween! Keep it spooky, but keep it safe out there tonight. đź§›

  • In today’s digest, Tech:NYC Founder House alums reveal what it’s like to build a new startup right now, the beginning of the end for the MetroCard, and the Village Halloween Parade celebrates 50 years.

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  • Have you noticed a new vending machine at your subway station? It’s probably one of the new machines dispensing tap-to-pay OMNY cards, part of the MTA’s push to phase out MetroCards. (New York Daily News)

    • The OMNY machines can be found at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center; Bowling Green and Junction Boulevard on the 7 line; the Fordham Road stations on the 4, B, and D lines; and at 86th Street on the Lexington Avenue line.

    • The OMNY cards are reusable and only cost $1. 

    • If you’re emotionally attached to your MetroCard, you don’t have to abandon it just yet. Subway and bus riders still have at least 18 months before the old system phases out.

  • The rats don’t run this city – at least, not 86th Street. Nearly all of the rats on the Upper East Side have been eradicated thanks to local exterminators pumping carbon monoxide into their burrows. (Gothamist)

    • While an extermination effort in Bryant Park ultimately failed, Mayor Eric Adam’s war on rats is beginning to see a few victories. New approaches to garbage collection have made the rodents’ dinners less accessible and citywide complaints have decreased.

  • Tonight’s the night – don your most iconic costume and head over to the annual Village Halloween Parade. The parade, celebrating its 50th anniversary, runs from 7 to 11 pm, moving up Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village. (TimeOut New York)

In other reading:

  • Investors like New York subways. San Francisco’s BART? Not so much. (Wall Street Journal)

  • How businesses can play a role in encouraging their employees to get out and vote (Crain’s New York)

  • Happy Halloween! Take a tour of some of NYC’s most haunted locations (NBC New York)

If you’re like us, you’re still on an adrenaline high (or perhaps you’re still recovering?) from a whirlwind of events during New York Tech Week.

  • ICYMI: #NYTechWeek tallied out at more than 420 events across the city, making it the largest Tech Week of any city to date (đź‘€, SF and LA).

A real highlight for us was all the new founders we met at the Tech:NYC Founder House. All week long, we connected with a curated group of 40 founders and the earliest stages of building their companies.

  • While at the House, they got personalized introductions and meetings with investors, industry leaders, government partners, and — equally as important — each other.

  • Martin Rufo and Jennifer He, the co-founders of Govify, sent us a follow-up note: “We were able to meet so many founders at similar stages of growth that we otherwise wouldn't have had access to. It’s given us a real leg-up in being able to build as a part of New York’s tech economy.”

After we wrapped our time with the latest cohort, we wanted to circle back with some of them to dig deeper on what’s next for their companies and why they’re committed to building in New York.

Those founders are leading this month’s Companies to Watch. Meet:

  • Govify, a hiring platform to improve recruitment for public service roles;

  • Mirza, a platform on a mission to remove childcare as a barrier for frontline workers;

  • TheraMotive, a on-demand mobile clinic startup reinventing physical therapy services;

  • Hiveclass, a digital health platform expanding access to youth sports and wellness training;

  • Emissionless, a logistics and mobility startup decarbonizing ground freight transportation.

In other reading:

  • November 1: Virtual: Measuring the ROI of Talent, with LLR Partners director of human capital Melanie Blaine. Hoisted by Getro. Register here.

  • November 6: In-person: Entrepreneurs Roundtable #183, with Work-Bench co-founder and general partner Jonathan Lehr. Hosted by ERA. Register here.  

  • November 7: In-person: AWS Startups Women’s Demo Day, with Calibrate CEO Isabelle Kenyon, AWS North America Startups Business Development Leaders Kathryn Van Nuys, Gilly CEO Laraib Khan, and others. Register here.

  • November 14 – 15: 2023 Urban Tech Summit, with NYC chief climate officer Rit Aggarwala, Kelvin CEO Marshall Cox, Brooklyn Navy Yard CEO Lindsay Greene, Near Space Labs CEO Rema Matevosyan, and others. Hosted by Cornell Tech. Register here.

  • December 8: In-person: Nonprofit TechCon, with BetaNYC executive director Noel Hidalgo, Queens Deputy Borough President Ebony Young, and others. Hosted by City & State. Use code TECH23 for 50% off tickets here.

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