Monday, March 16, 2026
In today’s digest, use the subway to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, March Madness 🤝 NY, and the latest RTO numbers. 💼
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Let the madness begin! 🤪 New York teams are all over this year’s March Madness tournament which tips off this week. Four local schools — St. John’s, Hofstra, LIU, and Siena — are headed to the men’s NCAA tournament, giving the city plenty to root for. 🏀 (PIX 11)
St. John’s earned a No. 5 seed after dominating the Big East, setting up a first-round matchup against Northern Iowa.
Hofstra returns to the tournament for the first time since 2001, while LIU faces a tough opening game against No. 1 seed Arizona.
Health officials have confirmed the city’s first case of a strain of the mpox virus (FKA monkeypox), one that’s more severe than the one that drove a global outbreak in 2022. Here’s what you need to know about the strain, including recommended vaccines and potential symptoms. 💉 (Gothamist)
Feeling lucky? Fifth Avenue turns green tomorrow for the 265th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, bringing roughly 150,000 marchers for the world’s oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration. ☘️ (Spectrum News)
The parade runs from East 44th Street to East 79th Street starting at 11am, which means major street closures all across Midtown and the Upper East Side.
This New York tradition dates all the way back to 1762, making it 14 years older than the USA!
👑 Referral royalty: Big thanks to Alison Miller (VNS Health) and Natalie Boykoff (Fierce Foundry) for referring subscribers to the Tech:NYC Digest this week! Join them and win swag by participating in our referral program — details at the end of this email.
In other reading:
You can convert Fahrenheit to Celsius with the stops on the 6 train (Ellen DaSilva/X)
The best brunch spots in New York City, mapped (Eater)
Hydropower line from Quebec to Queens could power a million NYC homes (New York Times)
Return-to-Office Keeps Inching Forward, Even with a Winter Curveball
The latest Placer.ai Office Index shows that office visits are continuing to recover nationwide, with February 2026 marking the strongest February for in-office attendance since the pandemic. 🏢
But the story looks a little different depending on where you live — especially in the snow-hit Northeast.
Here’s what stood out:
📊 The busiest February since COVID: Office foot traffic across the Placer.ai index — which tracks roughly 1,300 major office buildings nationwide — came in 31.9% below 2019 levels, the smallest February gap since the pandemic began.
Visits even slightly exceeded February 2024, despite that month benefiting from 20 business days instead of the usual 19 (#leapyear).
🌨️ Snowstorms skewed the Northeast numbers: A late-February blizzard disrupted office attendance in cities like New York and Boston, which weighed down the numbers significantly.
In New York City, office visits declined year-over-year and Manhattan’s office activity remained 21.3% below 2019 levels.
Still, that 21.3% figure was second best in the nation. 💪
💼 RTO policies are tightening: A growing list of employers are now requiring more in-person attendance, with some companies now mandating five days a week in the office.
The takeaway: RTO isn’t happening in a straight line. Weather, hiring cycles, and regional industry mix all matter, but the overall trajectory for office activity is still moving upward.
Even with the blizzard disruptions, the national office recovery continues to climb — and NYC’s tech and finance workforce remains central to the return-to-office story.
In other reading:
AI hacks for your March Madness bracket (Axios)
Figuring out why AIs get flummoxed by some games (Ars Technica)
Done with corporate life, Black women are starting businesses in droves (Wall Street Journal)
Bold Security, an NYC-based cybersecurity company, raised $40 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Picture Capital, and Red Dot Capital Partners.
Carefam, an NYC-based conversational AI platform designed for healthcare human resources, raised $14.5 million in funding from Pitango HealthTech, Emerge, and others.
Cryptio, an NYC-based crypto accounting company, raised $45 million in Series B funding. BlackFin Capital Partners and Sentinel Global led the round and were joined by 1kx, BlueYard Capital, and Ledger Cathay Capital.
Quantro Security, an NYC-based developer of cyber defense agents, raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding from Gradient.
Understood Care, an NYC-based patient advocacy startup, raised $8.4 million, with plans to raise a $15 million Series A round. Backers include Rethink Education, Zeal Capital Partners, 1984 Ventures, and YC.
Featured events:
⭐ March 19: City & State’s Digital New York Summit, for New York’s technology and information leaders from government and industry to gather for candid discussions and thought-provoking presentations on innovative ideas that are making everyday life for all New Yorkers more livable, safer, and more convenient. Register here with promo code TECHNYC for 25% off.
⭐ March 26: Tech:NYC’s Decoded Futures Demo Day, a showcase of creativity, collaboration, and innovation, featuring nonprofit leaders who have been exploring, over our 8-week program, how AI can scale the work and impact of the social sector. Register here.
⭐ March 31: Runway AI Summit, bringing together industry leaders across media, technology, consumer brands, robotics, and more to explore how AI is reshaping how work gets done — and what comes next for enterprise. Register here with promo code TECHNYC50 for 50% off.
⭐ April 6-9: HumanX’s conference for AI leaders in San Francisco, uniting 6,500+ leaders, builders, and investors driving real transformation. Discover cutting-edge innovations and accelerate your impact through networking opportunities. Register here with promo code HX26P_TECHNYC to get $$$ off your pass.
Other great events:
March 17: Towards Emissions-Free Microfreight, a multi-stakeholder discussion to investigate and assess the viability of BATWorks as a potential hub for emissions-free microfreight systems. Register here.
March 19: Human by Design: The Empathy Edge in an AI World, for women and allies who build — PMs, founders, designers, marketers, and engineers — to discuss how empathy, judgment, and collaborative AI tools can help you grow influence and deliver meaningful impact. Register here.
March 19: Own the Room: How to Speak and Present Effectively in Meeting, an interactive workshop designed for women who want to strengthen their voice at work. Register here.
March 20: Keeping It Urban Summit, featuring 10+ powerhouse panelists on media interfaces, robotics, and civic innovation, 5+ early-stage startups, and creative tech artist talks. Register here.
March 20: NYC Coffee Club, for founders and investors focused on the early-stage (pre-Series A) B2B and AI landscape. Register here.
March 21: Anti-Slopathon, a hackathon where participants use AI to build tools, games, features, and experiences, but show how they’ve listened to their user and applied taste and design judgment. Register here.
March 25: Speed Pitch, where every founder meets with three matched investors in one-on-one 8-minute sessions. Register here with promo code TECHNYC20 for 20% off.
March 25: FinTech Running Club ft. Rain, a casual run that’s open to everyone, from first-timers to seasoned runners. Register here.
March 26: How The Nation’s Top Law Enforcement Organizations Are Navigating Disruption, a discussion with leaders of the nation’s top organizations representing state Attorneys General on how they’re equipping their members and offices with the resources needed to uphold law and order during times of disorder. Register here.
March 26: Founder Dinner, an intimate evening with a highly curated group of Series A+ founders that are scaling. Register here.
March 26: American Fintech Council’s inaugural Marketing and Communications Cocktails & Conversations, hosted in collaboration with Tech:NYC, CLYDE, and Current. Register here.
March 26: Make It in Brooklyn Ag Tech Pitch Contest, bringing together local Ag Tech startups, early-stage founders, seasoned investors, and industry leaders to spotlight solutions that will define agriculture’s next chapter. Register here.
March 27: Free Social Coworking Session at The Yard (Gowanus), a chance to work in a focused but social environment with other remote workers. Register here.
March 31: Building at the Frontier, a panel with the builders and operators pushing deep tech forward, featuring Fauna Robotics’ Rob Cochran and Radical AI’s Joseph Krause. Moderated by Eric Newcomer. Register here.
April 2: Building the American Century, part of Deep Tech Week, featuring fireside chats with David Ulevitch, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and co-leader of the American Dynamism practice, alongside key members of the team. Moderated by Hyperstition Incorporated’s Andrew Cote. Register here.
April 14: Govtech Happy Hour, for govtech founders and operators, civil servants past and present, and policy enthusiasts. Register here.
April 16: Construction Robotics Summit: From Dirt to Data, bringing together the builders, technologists, and decision-makers advancing robotics across the built environment. Register here for early-bird pricing before March 31.
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