Tech:NYC Digest: September 19

Tech:NYC Digest: September 19

September 19, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Monday, September 19, 2022

Happy Climate Week NYC (and UN General Assembly Week and probably at least two other Weeks we’re working overtime to keep track of). In today’s digest, the pandemic is (not?) over, how NYC built the country’s largest free broadband program, and new data insists RTO mandates are for real this time.

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  • Pres. Joe Biden said he believes the COVID-19 “pandemic is over,” indicating the virus is no longer dictating everyday behaviors the same way it did over the last two years. (TIME) 

    • The White House said its COVID-19 policies are unchanged despite the remarks and there is no plan to lift the Public Health Emergency, which is currently extended through at least Oct. 13. (CNN)

  • A new citywide program called Big Apple Connect will provide free high-speed internet and basic cable TV to approximately 300,000 of public housing residents. The program was piloted at eight NYCHA developments and has now been expanded to more than 100, growing into the country’s largest free municipal broadband program. (ABC New York)

  • The MTA tapped Jose LaSalle, a 29-year veteran of the transit authority, as its first ever “Weekend Service Czar,” who will be tasked with improving weekend subway travel during off-peak hours. (Gothamist)

  • More than 150 global leaders are descending upon NYC this week for the UN General Assembly. For participants, that means a lot of diplomatic meetings, but for most New Yorkers, it means a lot of standstill traffic and road closures. (New York Post)

In other reading:

  • Should Your Flu and COVID Shots Go in Different Arms? (The Atlantic)

  • The Era of the Not-Too-Empty, Not-Too-Crowded Subway (New York Magazine)

  • In the City That Never Sleeps, Some Doors Now Close at 10 p.m. (New York Times)

WeWork had its busiest four-day stretch of the year last week as the back-to-school season coincided with a wave of back-to-office mandates. (Bloomberg)

  • Bookings by both all-access and on-demand members increased 20% in the week following Labor Day compared to average occupancy levels before then.

  • In comparison to the same week in 2021, when the Delta strain of the coronavirus thwarted RTO plans, global keycard swipes have increased by over 70%.

RTO seems to be for real this time, said Peter Greenspan, WeWork’s global head of real estate, telling Bloomberg, “This September feels more like the real return to the office that has been touted for two and a half years now.”

The same trends are panning out across NYC: 49% of Manhattan office workers are now back in the office on a typical weekday, according to new data from the Partnership for New York City, which has been regularly tracking return-to-office numbers.

  • That’s an increase from 38% in April. And as of mid-September, only 16% of office workers covered by the survey were entirely remote, down from 28% in April.

Public transit data seems to be validating the shift, as well: For the first time since March 2020, more than 3.7 million people used the subway last Wednesday. (New York Times)

  • In the past two weeks, commuter traffic on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, which ferry suburbanites into the city, also touched pandemic-era highs. According to New Jersey Transit officials, the system is on track to have its best fare revenue month since the start of the health crisis.

What’s next: Through the remainder of 2022, return to work rates are anticipated to progressively rise, with the Partnership’s report estimating an average of 54% of employees will be in the office on an average weekday by January 2023.

  • However, the numbers don’t indicate a snap back to pre-pandemic rules: 77 percent of businesses said a hybrid office schedule will be their main post-pandemic policy, in large part due to overwhelming employee preference.

  • 55% of employees in companies using a hybrid model are present at work at least three days per week.

Harvard Business School professor Prithwiraj Choudhury told Bloomberg, “Maybe there'll be some days in the month or some weeks in the quarter where we see a lot of office colocation, but then people go back to working remotely for the rest of the year.”

In other reading:

  • Almost 80% of Remote Workers Think They’d Be Fired for Saying No to the Office (Bloomberg)

  • Is Slack too much fun? (Protocol)

  • The only Excel tip you’ll ever really need, courtesy of this TikTok user (TikTok)

  • Dig, a NYC and Tel Aviv-based data risk and security startup, raised $34 million in Series A funding. SignalFire led the round and was joined by Felicis, Okta Ventures, Team8, and others. (FinSMEs)

  • Magna, a NYC-based token management platform, raised $15.2 million in seed funding. Tiger Global and Tusk Venture Partners co-led the round and were joined Circle Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Asymmetric, Alchemy Ventures, Solana Ventures, Ava Labs, Polygon, Protocol Labs, Y Combinator Continuity, Blockchain Founders Fund, AV Blockchain Fund, Olive Tree Capital, ProtoFund, and Plug and Play Ventures. (CoinDesk)

  • Polywork, a NYC-based work collaboration network, raised $28 million in Series B funding. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Caffeinated Capital co-led the round and were joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Baron Davis, Bungalow Capital, and others. (TechCrunch)

  • September 20: In-person: FemTech to Increase Gender Equity in Healthcare, with MyMee CEO Mette Dhyrberg, New York Ventures senior investment director Jonathan Greene, and others. Hosted by the Consulate General of Denmark in New York. Register here.

  • September 21 – 24: In-person and virtual: Unfinished Live 2022, with Circle chief strategy officer Dante Disparte, Future\Perfect Ventures managing partner Jalak Jobanputra, Protocol Labs general counsel Marta Belcher, and others. Use code ASSOC50 for 50% off tickets by registering here.

  • September 22: Virtual: Local Resilience 10 Years After Hurricane Sandy, with LES Ready! co-chair Ayo Harrington, WE ACT for Environmental Justice director of policy Sonal Jessel, and UPROSE policy planner Lovinia Reynolds. Hosted by Regional Plan Association and others. Register here. 

  • October 4: Virtual: The Future of How and Where We Work, with NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic & Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer, Daybase CEO Joel Steinhaus, and others. Hosted by Savills. Register here.

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