Tech:NYC Digest: September 17

Tech:NYC Digest: September 17

September 17, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Friday, September 17, 2021

In today’s digest, FDA votes against booster shots for the general public, NYC crosses 80 percent adult vax milestone, how WFH rippled through business districts, and the ​​Feast of San Gennaro returns to Little Italy.

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 5,781 (-948)

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,908 (-83)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 34

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.1 percent (no change)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress:

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 82.2 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 69.6 percent 

Today’s latest: 

  • Mayor de Blasio has been preparing to roll out booster shots, but implementing the plan may have to wait a while longer.

    • An FDA panel voted this afternoon against recommending approval of a Pfizer booster shot for people 16 and older. (New York Times) Many of the panel’s independent experts challenged whether a broad rollout of third shot was needed when data appears to show robust protection from the first regimen of doses.

    • However, a second vote by the panel will recommend the Pfizer booster for those ages 65 and older or at high risk. (New York Times)

    • Once approved, the city plans to make the third doses available at all of NYC’s 1,900 vaccination sites, and some sites will have extended opening hours. (New York Daily News)

  • Mayor de Blasio announced today that 80 percent of adults in NYC have received at least one dose of the vaccine. (New York Daily News) The vaccination rate among NYC residents ages 12 and 17 is also climbing, nearing 70 percent.

    • Early in the pandemic, experts identified the 80 percent rate as the goal to reach herd immunity, but with lower vaccination averages in other states and the spread of the Delta variant, it’s unclear if that marker remains true.

  • Gov. Hochul today signed the “Less is More Act,” which ends the practice of holding people in jail as they await hearings over alleged technical parole violations, such as missed curfews and marijuana use. (Gothamist)

    • With the passage of the law, Gov. Hochul also ordered the release of 191 detainees at the Rikers Island jail complex being held for those reasons. (New York Times)

  • The famed Grand Central Oyster Bar will begin dishing out seafood once again beginning next week, following a year-and-a-half shutdown due to the pandemic. The restaurant will (per NYC mandates) require proof of vaccination. (New York Post)

In other reading:

  • Dancing Through New York in a Summer of Joy and Grief (New York Times)

  • Fauci says he supports vaccine mandates for air travel. Will it actually fly? (Washington Post)

  • These New Yorkers Are Willing To Risk Their Jobs Over COVID-19 Vaccines (Gothamist)

As goes the return to offices, so goes the return of … everything else. That’s one point experts have made, particularly about business districts like midtown Manhattan, which rely on bustling office activity to support the activity of restaurants, cafes, and retail businesses.

  • But with most office returns once again put on hold for the fall — ViacomCBS, Microsoft, and American Express have joined the growing list of delays until 2022 — many of the city’s attractions and shops also remain largely empty.

Perhaps no place in NYC exemplifies this better than the Empire State Building. If you haven’t scrolled through the New York Times’ interactive on the building, it’s worth your time. It’s an insightful look at the landmark as a microcosm of pandemic-era office and business realities across the city.

  • Most of the building is office space. 41 percent of tenants surveyed, representing nearly half of the building’s office space,  intend to embrace hybrid work models long-term. 

  • Just two percent of tenants plan to return to the office full-time or otherwise haven’t decided on their plans.

  • Another 45 percent of the tenants’ plans are still unknown, but the majority plan to keep their space. The small share of companies that gave up their space had leases that happened to expire during the pandemic.

Hybrid models still need space to be available — just on a more flexible schedule. While that’s good for landlords, it means workers won’t be there as much, and those regular lunch spots, nearby coffee shops, and other businesses stand to be impacted most. 

  • By the end of 2020, the number of chain stores in Manhattan had fallen by more than 17 percent from 2019, according to a report by the Center for an Urban Future.

It doesn’t appear things will change in the near-term:

  • The most recent survey data from the Partnership for New York City says that, in Manhattan, 70 percent of employers plan to embrace the hybrid model and expect employees in the office for just part of the week.

  • Workers have also largely enjoyed spending most of the work week remote: in one survey, more than 70 percent of workers said they enjoyed working from home because it meant they could spend more time with their pets and easily nap or exercise during the day. 

For now, the hybrid model is still echoing the most consensus. But if it’s going to be a long-term solution for employers, it’s important to get it right. Here are six ideas from tech executives on the most important ways to take advantage of the times when teams are together in-person.

In other reading:

  • Avalanche, a Brooklyn-based blockchain focused on speed and low transaction costs, raised $230 million via the private sale of AVAX tokens. Polychain and Three Arrows Capital led the round and were joined by investors including R/Crypto Fund, Dragonfly, CMS Holdings, Collab+Currency, and Lvna Capital. (TechCrunch)

  • Curastory, a platform for athletes to distribute and monetize social video, raised $2.1 million in seed funding. Lightspeed, Techstars, and Mindspring Capital co-led the round and were joined by True Capital Management, The W Fund, Republic, and individual investors. (Sportico)

  • Journey Clinical, a New York City-based psychedelics startup, raised $3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Fifty Years and joined by Neo Kuma Ventures, Palo Santo, PsyMed Ventures, Lionheart Ventures, and individual investors. (TechCrunch)

  • LayerZero, a New York City-based interoperability protocol for decentralized applications, raised $6.3 million in Series A funding. Binance Labs and MulticoinCapital led the round and was joined by Sino Global Capital, Defiance, Delphi Digital, Robot Ventures, Spartan, Hypersphere Ventures, Protocol Ventures, and Genblock Capital. (CoinDesk)

  • OnLoop, a New York City-based performance review and feedback company, raised $5.5 million. MMV and Square Peg Capital led the round and were joined by Hustle Fund. (TechCrunch)

  • Statespace, a New York City-based e-sports and sports training solution, raised $50 million. Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital led the round and were joined by FirstMark, June Fund, West Ventures, AME, Bessemer Venture Partners, Modern Venture Partners, Mirae Assets, Animal Capital, Riverside, and Gaingels. (VentureBeat)

  • September 22: Virtual: How to Revive NYC’s Economy, Spark Good Jobs, and Build a More Equitable City, with Glitch CEO Anil Dash, Per Scholas president and CEO Plinio Ayala, United Way of NYC president and CEO Sheena Wright, and more. Hosted by Center for an Urban Future. Register here.

  • September 30: Virtual: Decoding Product-Led Growth Success with GitLab product group manager Sarah Waldner, Figma product manager Katie Szeto, and Airtable product lead Kelly O’Shaughnessy. Hosted by Work-Bench. Register here.

  • September 30: Virtual: Q3 Female Founder Office Hours, for 1:1 meetings with early-stage female founders and Tribeca Venture Partners’ investment team. Register here.

  • October 6 – 7: Virtual: Future Imperfect Summit 2021, with WNYC editor in chief Audrey Cooper, Partnership on AI head of AI and media integrity Claire Leibowicz, The Knowledge House CEO Jerelyn Rodriguez, and others. Hosted by NYC Media Lab. Register here.

  • October 6: Virtual: The Future of New York City, with Brooklyn Borough President (and Democratic nominee for Mayor) Eric Adams. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

The

is back! The festival is a celebration of Italian heritage and culture in the city. Now in its 95th year taking over Mulberry Street in Little Italy, it’s the original Open Street before the Open Streets program was a thing. From cannolis to cavatelli,

.

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here. Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.