Tech:NYC Digest: September 23

September 23, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Friday, September 23, 2022

We’re back with another “Friday Five” roundup of our favorite stories in New York tech. Have a great first weekend of autumn!

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Tech took over Climate Week. Here are the three biggest takeaways (Protocol)

Climate Week NYC was back in person for the first time in two years, a hiatus of enough time where, in both climate and tech terms, a lot can change. While world leaders gathered at the UN to emphasize the urgency of data-driven climate solutions, homegrown startups like Air Company aren’t waiting to put them into practice. From an expanded facility that began operations in Bushwick yesterday, the company known for transforming captured carbon dioxide into vodka and hand sanitizer announced new partnerships with JetBlue and Virgin Atlantic to produce carbon-neutral aviation fuel.

New York tech legend Kevin Ryan takes a spin at real estate, buys Nolita building (Crain's New York Business)

Perhaps we’re biased, but because he’s been a Tech:NYC board member from the very beginning, we’ve seen firsthand the ways Kevin Ryan has zeroed in on New York’s most exciting founders at the earliest stages. Now he’s ensuring the teams he invests in have a place to call home, and we’re excited to see the ways the new building becomes an office hub and gathering space for the New York tech community more broadly.

CUNY launches $16 million workforce development plan (Crain’s New York Business)

The new initiative pools both City and private sector funds to fortify a campus-to-industry pipeline for CUNY graduates interested in high-growth careers in tech and other industries. The initiative has an ambitious goal of ensuring 80% of all CUNY graduates land job placements immediately after graduation by 2030. Learn more.

Uber will provide free transportation for Girl Scouts Troop 6000 (QNS)

A grant from Uber will make sure the Troop 6000, a first-of-its-kind program specifically serving girls in the NYC shelter system, has the resources to travel for group field trips, camp visits, and other troop meetings. Their last trip brought them to Long Island City to serve as citizen scientists monitoring the oyster reefs there, and we can’t wait to see where Uber takes them next!

TikTok’s Corn Kid Is Doing Just Fine (New York Times)

The viral TikTok from “Corn Kid” Tariq sparked a thousand memes (by the way, make sure you also watch the Part 2 interview). Tariq’s internet fame blew up at the Smorgasburg food festival in Prospect Park, and 76 million views later, he’s our favorite New Yorker of the Week.

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