Friday, March 27, 2026
Welcome to another Friday edition of the Tech:NYC Digest, featuring our favorite five highlights in New York and tech this week.
And what a week it was! NYC startups mobilized to protect QSBS, pushing back on a State Senate proposal to tax startup exits that raised real concerns for founders, early employees, and investors.
After our letter in opposition garnered over 1,600+ signatures, the State Senate has since indicated it does not plan to move forward with the proposal — a powerful reminder of what our community can do when it shows up together. 💪
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New program offers free libraries inside Bronx bodegas (News 12)
A grassroots effort is turning neighborhood bodegas into free book hubs and tackling a long-standing “book desert” in the Bronx. 📖
Books x Bodegas is a nonprofit that places bookshelves in local stores, where residents can freely take or leave books.
The push comes as nearly 70% of third graders in the South Bronx read below grade level, with organizers hoping easy access to books can help close that gap.
NYC’s newest hobby is cleaning up trash and documenting the filth (Washington Post)
Volunteer cleanup groups are popping up across the city, turning garbage collection into a social activity and civic movement. ♻️
Groups like Pick Up Pigeons meet at bars before heading out together to clean neighborhoods, sometimes collecting thousands of pounds of trash while building community.
Beyond cleanup, many log what they find using data on litter and waste patterns to better understand (and advocate for) quality-of-life issues that help all New Yorkers.
I built a free live TSA wait time tracker for major U.S. airports (From the Tray Table)
We won't sugarcoat it, wait times at airports are pretty bad right now. Before you head out, make your travel day a little more predictable. ⌚
This handy tool pulls data from dozens of airports (including Newark, Laguardia and JFK) for a checkpoint-by-checkpoint breakdown of the current wait times, so you can really know before you go.
The things all New Yorkers should know (but most don’t) (Curbed)
Speaking of things to know, this guide from Curbed is basically a “how to live smart in NYC” cheat sheet, a practical guide of how to make life easier in the Big Apple. 🍎
What are the best bars to impress family members from out of town? Where to park near JFK to save money? And did you know most bodegas sell stamps?
The Mayor is turning city repairs into a March Madness-style competition (NYC Gov)
New Yorkers can now vote on which everyday fix — from broken benches to torn tennis nets — gets fast-tracked by the Mayor himself. 🛠️
The “Mayor’s Municipal Madness” bracket features 16 small but annoying issues across the five boroughs that city agencies have already committed to fixing within the Mamdani Administration’s first 100 days.
One winner will get the VIP treatment: The Mayor (and possibly a special guest) will personally help fix it, with voting happening bracket-style over the next week.
“I want you to put the word out there that we back up.” — Stringer Bell in The Wire, presumably talking about NYC.
That’s a wrap for this week. Time to fast-track it to the weekend, New York! 🗽
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