Monday, August 3, 2026
In today’s digest, a public safety win, a tech upgrade for subway newsstands, and a record year for Manhattan real estate, courtesy of the tech sector. 🏢
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New York just hit another public safety milestone. The first seven months of 2026 saw the fewest shootings, shooting victims, and murders in recorded city history, while overall major crime fell 12.7% in July. 👮 (amNY)
The city recorded 381 shootings and 149 murders through July, both the lowest totals ever (!) for this point in the year.
Attention, New York sports fans: There’s a new streamer in town. Starting with the 2026-2027 NBA and NHL seasons, DAZN will become the direct-to-consumer streaming home for YES Network and MSG Networks — meaning you’ll be able to use DAZN to watch many local teams without a cable package. 📺 (Deadline)
Fans who already get YES or MSG through cable or satellite will be able to access the networks through DAZN at no extra charge, while the Gotham Sports App subscribers will be moved over automatically at no extra cost.
DAZN will be the place to stream teams including the Yankees, Knicks, Rangers, Nets, Islanders, Devils, and Sabres.
Subway newsstands are making a comeback (sort of). New vending machines will be installed at over two dozen subway stations, turning long-vacant subway retail spaces into automated mini-shops, starting with 60 vending machines across 26 stations.🥤 (Smart Cities World)
The first 24/7 locations are now open at 23rd Street-Broadway, Second Avenue-East Houston, and 116th Street-Lexington Avenue.
The rollout will span Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, reaching stations that collectively serve about 195 million rider trips a year.
In other reading:
Op-ed: An AI moratorium will hurt our kids (NY Daily News)
The best tacos in NYC (Eater)
Want to camp next to the trees and for free in iconic NYC parks? Now you can (Gothamist)
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A Record Year for Manhattan Office Tech Leasing (So Far!)
Move over, Michael Scott and Scranton. The Office has a new hub (at least for tech): Manhattan.
New York’s tech sector is leasing a big share of office space these days. A new Colliers report finds that tech companies leased 4.15 million square feet of Manhattan office space in the first half of 2026, the highest midyear total on record and up 59.5% from H1 2025. 🏢
Here’s what to know:
A tech office grows in Manhattan: Tech leasing is growing much faster than the broader Manhattan office market. 🚀
Tech tenants accounted for 18.2% of all Manhattan office leasing in H1 2026, the highest midyear share on record.
If the current pace continues, total tech leasing would finish the year 26.8% above 2025 and 9.5% above the 2019 peak.
Large tech leases drove the surge: Tech companies signed six leases of 100,000+ square feet in H1 2026, the highest first-half total on record.
The biggest deals included Google’s 410,556-square-foot renewal at 315 Hudson Street, Ramp’s 285,303-square-foot extension and expansion on West 23rd Street, and Uber’s 173,436-square-foot expansion at 3 World Trade Center (all three Tech:NYC members!).
📍 Midtown South is the epicenter: Midtown South captured 75.1% of Manhattan tech leasing in H1 2026, up from 63.8% a year earlier.
Four of the five largest tech deals in H1 ’26 were in Midtown South, including Google, Ramp, Clay, and Tennr.
AI companies are now a major force in Manhattan office demand.
AI companies signed 63 leases totaling 1.50 million square feet in H1 2026, up from 0.21 million square feet across 19 deals in H1 2025. 🤖
AI tenants made up 36.1% of tech leasing demand, with Midtown South capturing 84.3% of AI leasing.
This data doesn’t even include Anthropic’s more than 460,000-sq.-ft. new lease signed in July 2026.
Yes, and: More leasing doesn’t mean rents are rising everywhere.
Tech taking rents fell 1.9% year over year to $81.35 per square foot.
Downtown rents rose, while Midtown rents fell due to several below-market subleases.
🚀 The big takeaway: AI companies have gone from fast-growing startups to major office tenants, with Manhattan tech leasing on track for one of its best years on record.
In other reading:
AI conquered coding. Fast food is next (WIRED)
Defcon’s new badge is a security key you can see inside (Ars Technica)
How one VC navigates AI’s pragmatic era (Wall Street Journal)
Cathedral, an NYC-based stealth military cybersecurity startup, raised $160 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.
Dili, an NYC-based compliance platform for infrastructure, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures led the round, joined by YC, Allianz, Brick and Mortar Ventures, and Rebel Fund.
June, an NYC-based enterprise AI deployment startup, raised $20 million in pre-seed funding. Time Ventures led the round, joined by Michael Dell, Aaron Levie, and George Kurtz.
Turbo AI, an NYC-based AI automation platform, raised $0.75 million in a Seed fundraising round led by Northwestern University with participation from undisclosed angel investors.
Zenity, an NYC-based AI agent security and governance platform, raised $125 million in Series C funding. Norwest led the round, joined by Qumra Capital, SoftBank, Hitachi Ventures and LG Technology Ventures and insiders Vertex Ventures, Third Point Ventures, DTCP, and Intel Capital.
Featured events:
⭐ August 6: A Chief of Staff Mixer, a night of problem-solving and peer-to-peer learning for Chiefs of Staff. Register here.
⭐ September 17-19: The Atlantic Festival returns to New York for three days of newsmaking conversations, exclusive screenings, book talks, and performances you won’t find anywhere else. Register here and get $100 off your one-day or two-day pass with code TECHNYC.
Other great events:
August 4: Co Ventures x Aussie Founders in NYC, where you can compare notes on building far from home, trading who’s worth knowing, backing each other the way the Aussie community does best over Mimi’s frozen yogurt. Register here.
August 5: Female Founders and Funders by Fierce Foundry, an opportunity to connect, meet potential investors, or discover innovative new ventures. Register here.
August 8: West Village Pizza Crawl: Summer 2026 Edition, a four-stop journey through NYC’s most iconic slices — no pitches, no panels, just passion and pizza. Register here.
August 11: The VC’s Guide to Using AI Tools for Generating Alpha, a panel featuring some of the most thoughtful users of AI tools for sourcing, diligence, execution and portfolio management. Register here.
August 12: What Happens to Humanity When Everything Becomes Intelligent?, an evening exploring one of the biggest technological shifts in human history — and what it means for your future. Register here.
August 19: Personalization Without the BS: What’s Actually Lifting Revenue, where you’ll see how the brands that actually move CR, AOV, and LTV with personalization are doing something fundamentally different. Register here.
August 22: NYC Founders Club Founder River Float Retreat, a full-day retreat on the Delaware River for early to growth-stage founders — transportation, meals, and all supplies included. Register here.
September 10: StrictlyVC, delivering an insider perspective on New York City’s bustling VC scene and wider trends in the community. Register here.
September 16: Primary’s NYC Tech Summit, an annual gathering for builders, backers, and operators shaping the future. Apply to attend here.
September 20: Fostering State and City Level Support for Climate Innovation, bringing together leading advanced energy incubators and government to share best practices and lessons learned. Register here.
September 22: Beyond the Pilot: Securing Corporate Adoption, a Climate Scaling Summits hosted by LACI at BATWork with the theme of accelerating commercialization of clean energy innovation in New York. Register here.
October 13-15: EdTech Week, where the brightest minds and the boldest innovators gather in a technological playground dedicated to transforming education. Register before August 31 for early bird tickets here.
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