Monday, September 28, 2026
In today’s digest, subway ridership hits a post-pandemic high, Lower Manhattan puts its new flood defenses to the test, and the latest on NYC venture funding. 💰
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Talk about good timing. Lower Manhattan’s new $221 million flood-defense system was completed just before this weekend’s nor’easter, and Battery Park City made it through without flooding. 🌊 (amNY)
The project raised Wagner Park and Pier A Plaza above projected flood levels and added flood walls, gates, drainage upgrades, and stormwater storage.
There’s a bonus for commuters, too: the Battery Bikeway has reopened, restoring a dedicated cycling route around Manhattan’s southern tip. 🚲
If the subway felt extra packed last week, the numbers back you up. NYC logged nearly 4.7 million subway rides in a single day, the system’s busiest day since before the pandemic. 🚇 (Secret NYC)
The MTA recorded 4,696,692 rides on September 23, though there’s still room on the train before reaching the pre-pandemic benchmark of nearly 6 million rides set in 2013.
For some vintage NYC perspective, the all-time record is 8.5 million rides in one day, set during a 1947 snowstorm.
Get ready: Open House New York returns October 16–18 with access to 300 destinations across all five boroughs, from robotic stone-carving workshops to hidden gardens. 🔑 (Gothamist)
Among the highlights are a tour of Monumental Labs’ 40,000-square-foot robotic stone-carving facility, a climb of Harlem’s historic fire watchtower, or a peek inside the New York Botanical Garden’s scientific facilities.
Most stops are free, while reservations for some limited-capacity locations cost $7 and go on sale this Friday, October 2, at noon.
Check out the full lineup of events here.
In other reading:
For 700 CUNY students, the prize is free subway cards (New York Times)
Amtrak is dropping ticket prices to help travelers see the autumn foliage from wide reclining seats (Secret NYC)
‘This summer deserves an Oscar’: The season when New York went outside (New York Times)
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NYC Venture Funding Is Surging, Even as the Broader Economy Moderates
NYC’s economy is still growing, but the latest snapshot from NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) shows that growth is getting more uneven. The bright spot for the city’s tech ecosystem? Venture funding is running at its strongest pace in years. 💰
Today, we’re breaking down what the latest numbers tell us about the state of New York City’s economy, and why venture capital is bucking the slowdown.
VC is having a big year: NYC-based companies raised $10.8 billion in Q2, the city’s largest quarter of venture funding since 2021. 💸
Through the first half of 2026, companies raised $21.2 billion — 102% more than during the same period last year.
For some perspective, NYC companies had raised $10.5 billion through Q2 last year and $14.3 billion during the same stretch in 2019.
New businesses keep popping up, too: About 19,800 businesses launched in NYC in 2025, meaning roughly 1 in 10 businesses in the city started during the year. 🏗️
And in Q4 of last year, NYC recorded about 5,300 new businesses against an estimated 4,900 permanent closures — the fewest closures since Q4 2022.
⚠️ Yes, but: The job market is cooling. NYC’s private sector shed 12,900 jobs in August, leaving the city with just 3,900 net new private-sector jobs so far in 2026.
Strip out health care and social assistance, and private-sector employment is actually down 12,900 jobs this year.
Information employment — which includes parts of NYC’s tech economy alongside industries like media — fell by 3,400 jobs in August and was down 1.7% year-over-year.
The labor market is sending mixed signals: NYC’s unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in August, its sixth straight monthly decline, but labor force participation also fell for the sixth straight month, to 62.1%. NYCEDC describes the combination as suggestive of a “cooling, low-churn labor market.”
(Shameless plug: Looking for your next NYC tech role? Check out our Jobs Board, featuring 7,800+ tech jobs from 540+ tech companies, here.)
The office comeback is still clawing its way back: Citywide office visitation reached about 70% of pre-pandemic levels in August, up 2.3 percentage points year-over-year; Class A+ buildings were further ahead at about 76% of pre-pandemic traffic.
👉 The takeaway: Even in a more uneven economy, NYC’s startup ecosystem is showing real strength. Venture funding is surging, new businesses continue to launch, and capital is flowing into the city’s companies at the fastest pace in years.
In other reading:
Waymo’s latest safety numbers sure make human drivers look bad (Inside EVs)
As AI accelerates, governments are increasingly being left behind (New York Times)
How an iced coffee in a job interview sparked a raging etiquette debate (Wall Street Journal)
HIFI, an NYC-based stablecoin payments and tokenized-assets infrastructure company, raised $37 million in Series A funding. Left Lane Capital led the round.
Featured events:
⭐ October 1: NYC AI Demos, from Tech:NYC, Pensar, and Two Trees, this month featuring a hand-picked lineup of companies themed around media including Kargo, Markup AI, Eleven Labs, Profound, Minerva, and Air. Register here.
⭐ October 14: POLITICO New York Outlook, a deep dive into the affordability, economic, and policy challenges shaping New York City under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Join in person or watch virtually beginning at 3pm ET. Register here.
Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Ping Politico here.
⭐ October 29: Crain’s Tech Summit, bringing together leaders across tech, business, policy, academia, and workforce development to explore how New York is building the infrastructure, talent, and partnerships needed to lead in the AI economy. Register here with promo code FRIENDSOFTECHNYC for 15% off.
Other great events:
September 30: Cohort Wednesday Coworking, a weekly working session in NYC for everyone making something. Spend the day alongside passionate people in different fields and different stages, but deep in the work that’s more than a job. Register here.
October 1: Crain’s NY Business Wall Street Meets Blockchain: The Future of Digital Asset Infrastructure, a conversation on the future of cryptocurrency in the finance capital of the world. Register here.
October 1: XR Brooklyn: Worlds by Hand, a conversation with artist-practitioners, curators, talent, ecosystem builders, and collaborators creating the next generation of virtual and extended worlds. Register here.
October 1: Stripe Apps Developers: Simplify building your tech stack with AI, a hands-on hackathon where you’ll explore how app development is changing, learn how Stripe Projects simplifies building your tech stack with AI agents, and then try it hands-on. Register here.
October 2: Community Led Growth “CLG” Conference, bringing together 50 of the top Heads of Community, Community Leads, and Community Founders who are focused on building a community full-time. Register here.
October 6: Tech x Market Decoders, a salon-style, small curated weekly meetup for operators, investors, and builders across New York. This week’s topic is about an AI startup called Jev that just went viral for doing the opposite of what every other AI company is doing — it doesn't chat at all. Register here.
October 10: Civic Tech’ish: Island Edition, a happy hour on Governors Island for people working across civic and urban tech, with optional volunteering with the Billion Oyster Project. 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 here.
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