Friday, April 11, 2025

April 11, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Friday, April 11, 2025 

Happy National Pet Day and welcome to another Friday edition of the Tech:NYC Digest, featuring our favorite five highlights in New York tech this week — plus a surprise at the end!

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In Manhattan, the walls are talking again, the bar mural is back (Financial Times)

  • Over the past decade, NYC bars have abandoned the mural tradition that “came to define the very character of Manhattan,” according to the Financial Times. 

    • In recent years, however, there’s been a counter-reversal: Bars are once again covered in hand-painted wall art — ranging from scenic oil paintings, figurative primitives, improvisational tableaus, and mythical frescos. 🎨


NYC showcases cutting-edge AI technology at Smart City Expo USA (PIX11)

  • At Smart City Expo USA, tech leaders assembled from across the globe to showcase cutting-edge AI tech and gadgets that help advance public safety, fight hunger, and even help race car drivers win. 

    • The FDNY robotics team showcased their drone fleet, while Citi Bike showed off upgrades to its electric bike tech that makes it more accessible. 


How this Brooklyn rabbi’s security startup is using AI to help safeguard Jewish institutions amid rise in antisemitism (amNY)

  • Rabbi Yossi Eliav, director of Chabad at Clinton Hill and Pratt, is the founder of US Virtual Guard —  a Brooklyn-based startup that uses AI and human monitoring to safeguard synagogues, schools, and other communal institutions. 

    • The platform uses both machine learning to track live camera feeds and computer vision software to flag unusual behavior, and dozens of institutions have signed up so far. 


How Broadway became Broadway (Vulture)

  • Broadway’s roots started in a rough-and-tumble New York setting before it became the global cultural icon it is today. 

    • Despite challenges like economic downturns and the rise of Hollywood and television, Broadway has always endured — a symbol of the resilience of live theater amid New York’s ever-changing landscape. 


Pets and the City: Introducing a new column about dogs! (amNY)

  • In honor of National Pet Day today, we’ll leave you with this story introducing a new column all about pets (and dogs in particular). 

    • “In New York City, no other animal lives among us like dogs. Dogs are everywhere. They’re in parks, on subways, in cafés, and in tiny apartments. They’re in the T-Mobile store while you’re trying to fix something on your phone, but this employee can’t seem to do it.”

In lieu of a cartoon this week, and in honor of National Pet Day today, please enjoy a collage of “The Pets of Tech:NYC,” including Tech:NYC’s Director of Treats, Bonnie!


Bark up the right tree this weekend, New York! 🐕

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