Thursday, August 13, 2026
In today’s digest, year-round outdoor dining makes a comeback, theater fans rejoice, and what’s behind tech’s fashion moment. 👖
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Outdoor dining is poised to become a year-round affair again, with the City Council approving legislation today allowing roadway setups to stay put through the winter. 🍝 (New York Times)
Restaurants would also be able to winterize outdoor structures, eliminating the costly annual ritual of dismantling and storing them.
The program has shrunk to about 2,700 participating restaurants this year, down from 6,000–8,000 at a time during the pandemic-era peak.
New York State is giving its tech stack an AI boost. The state’s Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) signed an enterprise agreement with New York-headquartered (and Tech:NYC member!) IBM to bring AI, hybrid cloud, cybersecurity, and other tools to state agencies. 🤖 (StateScoop)
The deal is expected to save taxpayers $6 million over the next three years while helping agencies automate business processes, modernize applications, and strengthen cybersecurity.
No need for the Hamiltons, because this is a Wicked good deal. Local high schoolers now have the chance to win free tickets to a slate of seven Broadway and Off-Broadway shows like In the Heights, Buena Vista Social Club, and The Great Gatsby. (PIX 11)
Students entering grades 9–12 can enter through Monday, with winners getting two tickets to one of the participating shows.
Everyone who enters the lottery also gets two free months of Theatre Development Fund membership, which includes discounted Broadway tickets and free admission to Carnegie Hall and other venues.
➕ One more thing: Catch NY1 last night? Tech:NYC President and CEO Julie Samuels joined Bobby Cuza on Inside City Hall to talk about the latest tech policy conversations in Albany and what they mean for New York.
They discussed Empire AI and New York’s investment in AI research and computing, data policy, and signs of continued growth across NYC’s tech sector — from expanding office footprints to the city’s growing tech workforce. Watch the full segment here.
In other reading:
New York opens $60 million RFP for quantum technology hubs (Quantum Insider)
‘One prompt, job done!’: What it takes to launch an MTA-wide advertising campaign (New York Business Journal)
NYC ranked in the top three ‘most attractive’ cities in the world, after two Japanese stunners (Time Out New York)
Together with Markup AI 🤝
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Launch week means a dozen contributors producing landing pages, emails, social, and sales enablement simultaneously — all under deadline. Markup AI checks every asset against your brand voice and messaging before it ships, automatically.
Tech Merch Has a Fashion Moment
Kinda chic to wear your company’s exclusive streetwear to work. 💅
The old tech uniform was simple: logo tee, gray hoodie, maybe a pair of Allbirds. Now, some of the industry’s biggest names are trying to turn company swag into something closer to fashion — with limited drops, designer collaborations, heavyweight fabrics, and prices that look a lot more like SoHo than a conference booth.
It’s part marketing strategy, part culture play, and part effort to make tech companies feel like brands people want to identify with offline.
👕 Swag has become streetwear: Anthropic handed out limited-edition “thinking” hats, Figma releases merch in seasonal drops with fashion brands, Palantir sells a $239 chore coat, and OpenAI’s new Supply Co. includes a $175 half-zip and $70 ChatGPT basketball.
The common thread is these companies are moving away from mass-produced logo tees toward scarce, collectible products designed to signal taste.
Some drops are working: Palantir’s chore coat sold out within hours, while OpenAI says some Supply Co. items are already selling out.
Why now? Because taste has become a tech buzzword.
As AI makes it easier to generate code, writing, images, and design, the argument inside tech is increasingly that human judgment — knowing what is actually good — becomes more valuable. 💰
This is part of tech’s recent obsession with taste, where aesthetics and creative judgment are increasingly more sought after.
The bigger goal is brand-building: These collections are about turning companies into cultural identities. 🏆
Merch can be viewed as a soft-power play that expands a company’s identity beyond its products.
It also makes tech power feel desirable, familiar, and wearable — a way for companies that once operated largely behind the scenes to enter lifestyle culture.
🗽 The New York angle: Tech’s new aesthetic language looks suspiciously familiar to anyone who spends time downtown. Vogue compares the look to the streetwear world of Aimé Leon Dore, Supreme, SoHo, and Mulberry Street.
Yes, but: Can you manufacture cool?
Critics argue that many of these companies are borrowing the aesthetics of streetwear, workwear, and craftsmanship without yet building the communities or culture that made those styles meaningful in the first place.
🚀 The takeaway: Increasingly, tech companies want people to wear the brand, join the community, and see the company as part of culture, which may explain why the next big battle in AI is being fought partly with chore coats, quarter-zips, and basketballs.
In other reading:
Do your emojis make you look old? (New York Times)
Job seekers are racing to AI-proof their résumés (Wall Street Journal)
As mega-funds grab 72% of all capital raised, the gap between VC’s haves and have-nots keeps widening (Fortune)
Aligned Marketplace, an NYC-based marketplace connecting self-insured employers to independent advanced and direct primary care, announced an additional $20 million of investment with the Series A led by Venrock.
Riven Systems, an NYC-based minerals processing startup, raised $7.9 million in pre-seed funding. Cerberus Ventures led the round, joined by Scout Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Lightscape Partners, CLAI, and New System Ventures.
Yuno, an NYC-based payments and financial-services software company, raised $45 million in Series B funding. Global PayTech Ventures led the round and was joined by a16z, Tiger Global, QuantumLight, Monashees, Kaszek, and others.
August 14: BeautyTechWalk, NYC, a leisurely stroll through the park, appreciating the scenery and forging new connections in a friendly and inclusive setting. Register here.
August 15: Founders Running Club, bringing together founders, builders, investors, and operators together for weekly easy runs and networking followed by coffee and conversation. Register here.
August 17: Micro Mondays Coworking with New York Coworking Friends, where you can work in a focused-but-social setting with other remote workers in a modern coworking space, and join a demo in the afternoon. 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 20: Bogeys & Builders Vol. 02, featuring good people, golf, and cold drinks. 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 15: Private Dinner: Navigating International Business, an evening at Raines Law Room bringing together a select group of senior retail and brand leaders for an open conversation around the future of international commerce. 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 17: Regal Rise, bringing together customer experience leaders to share real-world strategies, case studies, and practical insights for successfully implementing AI agents and Voice AI technology across customer touchpoints. 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.
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.
September 23: The Economics of AI, a live panel digging into pricing, unit economics, and what happens when the cost of delivering software starts moving faster than your pricing model can keep up. 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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