Monday, April 27, 2026
In today’s digest, air taxis take flight in NYC, you should probably start composting, and the latest RTO figures. 🏢
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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s... NYC’s first-ever point-to-point electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi demo! 🪽 (Bloomberg)
Joby Aviation (a Tech:NYC member!) will operate pilot-only flights over the next 10 days along existing helicopter routes, aiming to show the aircraft are quieter and viable for urban travel.
The tests are part of a new federal program to integrate air taxis into U.S. airspace, with the company targeting commercial passenger service as soon as this year, pending approval.
When reached, the Jetsons declined comment.
NYC is going all-in on free 2026 FIFA World Cup fan experiences, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani announcing citywide watch parties across all five boroughs. ⚽ (Brooklyn Eagle)
The plan includes new events featuring live match screenings, programming, and local vendors across the city.
It builds on Mayor Mamdani’s broader affordability push around soccer. A recent batch of 1,000 $5 tickets for a NJ/NY Gotham FC match sold out in under an hour, signaling strong demand for lower-cost ways to engage with the sport.
If you haven’t been composting, now is a good time to start. NYC is issuing composting fines at a record pace as enforcement ramps up across the city. 🗑️ (Gothamist)
Inspectors handed out more than 4,000 tickets in recent weeks — including a single-day high of 486 — as the city enforces its mandatory composting rules.
Participation remains low, with only about 2.4% of compostable waste diverted, prompting more inspections and a renewed public awareness push.
Here’s a guide to composting in NYC.
In other reading:
Do you have what it takes to be an NYC bus driver? (NY Post)
King Charles to meet New York Mayor Mamdani in New York (Politico)
Smorgasburg is debuting in Central Park with weekday hours (Time Out New York)
Together with MADE 🤝
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Explore the space and learn more here.
Return-to-Office Gains Pick Up Steam with NYC at the Center of It
A new report from Placer shows office foot traffic hitting its strongest March (pun intended) since COVID, with tighter in-person policies and changing workplace expectations driving the next phase of the recovery.
Here’s what to know:
📈 Office visits are climbing again:
Last month was the busiest March for office visits since COVID, with traffic sitting 26.5% below 2019 levels (nearly 8% better than March 2025).
On a per-workday basis, visits were still down 29.8% from 2019 — but up 6.4% year-over-year, signaling steady momentum.
🏙️ NYC remains a national leader:
New York and Miami are leading the recovery, with office visits exceeding 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
That puts NYC ahead of many peer markets even as hybrid work persists — reinforcing its role as a hub for in-person industries like finance, media, and tech.
🌎 Lagging markets are catching up:
West Coast cities are posting some of the strongest gains, and the shift suggests RTO is becoming more widespread nationally, not just concentrated in early-recovery cities like New York.
🏢 Real estate markets are opening a window: Manhattan office real estate investment trusts (REIT) stocks have dropped sharply — with SL Green down nearly 50% and Vornado down 35% over the past 18 months — creating what some investors see as a rare chance to buy prime assets at a discount.
At the same time, leasing activity is already rebounding: SL Green reported nearly 1 million square feet leased in Q1, including significant demand from AI firms, suggesting fundamentals may be stronger than stock prices imply.
🍻 The office experience is being redesigned:
Companies are adding amenities like bars, lounges, and social spaces to make offices more appealing as they push for in-person work.
In New York, J.P. Morgan has already opened an exclusive 55-seat in-office pub at its Park Avenue headquarters, used for both employee socializing and client meetings.
⚠️ But wait — uncertainty isn’t gone:
Some investors remain skeptical, pointing to long-term risks from remote work and AI reducing office demand.
Others argue current prices reflect a worst-case scenario, creating what they see as a rare “value investing” opportunity in NYC office assets.
🗽 The New York angle:
NYC is simultaneously leading the return-to-office recovery and serving as a testing ground for what the next office looks like — from AI-driven leasing demand to hospitality-style workplaces.
In other reading:
Spice up your cooking skills with help from your phone (New York Times)
The AI frenzy is back and lifting the entire stock market to record highs (Wall Street Journal)
OpenAI could be making a phone with AI agents replacing apps (TechCrunch)
Shade, an NYC-based cloud storage platform for marketing agencies, raised $14 million led by Khosla Ventures, Construct Capital, and Bling Capital.
Thoughtly, an NYC-based developer of voice AI agents, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Armory Square Ventures and nvp capital with participation from returning investors Afore Capital, Greycroft, K5 Global Tokyo Black.
Featured event:
⭐ May 20: Nysernet Leadership Symposium: Cyber Resilience for Museums and Cultural Organizations, bringing together CIOs and CISOs from museums, arts, and cultural orgs for peer discussion and executive-level insight on today’s cyber risks. Register here with promo code TECHNYC for 10% off.
Other great events:
April 28: Rillet Recon, a full-day program on the future of AI-native finance. Register here.
April 28: NYC Hardware Meetup – Round 3, where you can meet fellow engineers, inventors, and builders shaping the future of hardware. Register here.
April 29: NY Fintech Week Founder Happy Hour, designed specifically for tech founders from Series A to Series C. Register here.
April 29: Founder Finance Night: Poker and a Free Second Opinion (Post Tax Day), for founders who want to play some poker, and startup or SMB founders who want a gut check on their finances. Register here.
April 29: How to Raise a Series A, for founders who want to learn what investors are actually evaluating, how to think about timing and traction, and how to walk into the room knowing what to ask for, what to push on, and what to leave alone. Register here.
April 30: Fintech Takes 3v3 Classic @ NY Fintech Week, a friendly 3v3 competition complete with good conversation afterwards. Register here.
May 1: Tech Pickleball NYC, a chance to gather with fellow tech workers for coffee, bagels, pickleball, and good vibes. Register here.
May 3: Startup Friends — Coffee & Chill Session at Branch, featuring convos with ambitious people who know how to keep things light while chasing big goals. Register here.
May 18-20: Sports Business Journal Tech Week, bringing together sports tech leaders to network, drive innovation, and discuss the trends impacting the sector. Register here with promo code LG-TECHNYC-2025 to get 15% off your pass.
May 19: Commerce Leaders Mixer at The Lead Summit, a curated evening of networking with senior retail and brand leaders across ecommerce, marketing, and digital. Register here.
May 28: Niural AI Summit, a pre-NY Tech Week summit bringing together CFOs, finance leaders, HR executives, founders, and investors shaping the future of AI-native finance and people operations. Register here for a discounted rate for Tech:NYC Digest readers.
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