Thursday, July 17, 2025

July 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Thursday, July 17, 2025 

In today’s digest, new Michelin recs in NYC, smartphone bans in schools, and internet in the Bronx. 🛜

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  • Starting in the new school year this September, NYC public school students will no longer be able to use their smartphones during school hours. 📵 (amNY)

    • Learn all about the program, including how it will roll out and the various exemptions, here. 

    • Check out Tech:NYC’s statement in support of the smartphone restriction in schools here.

  • Michelin has released a list of 14 new additions to its New York restaurant guide. ⭐ (Eater NY)

    • These 14 restaurants, along with nearly 400 spots in Michelin’s recommended New York restaurants list, will be up for the coveted stars and other award designations at a ceremony later this year.

  • Spotted lanternflies are so back. (“How back are they?!”) They’re so back that if you spot one this summer, you can stomp it, sure, but it will have little effect on eradicating them. 🐞 (Gothamist) 

    • Not much can be done to eliminate them entirely at this point, and the state’s major area of concern is Upstate New York, not NYC. 

    • You can view a map of reported lanternfly distributions in the region here.


In other reading:

A day without the internet may seem impossible, especially for those in the city’s bustling and innovative tech sector. 🧑‍💻

But that seeming impossibility is a reality for many in NYC, particularly Bronx residents, where thousands lack access to a computer and high-speed internet access, according to a new report from the Center for an Urban Future.

  • The digital divide in the Bronx spans three issues: broadband affordability and adoption, device access, and digital literacy. 

📊 By the numbers:

  • 22.4% of Bronx households lack broadband at home (compared to 18% in Queens and 12.5% in Manhattan).

  • 1 in 3 Bronx households lack access to a computer, or over 184,000 homes.

  • 11.5% of Bronx students are enrolled in a computer science course.

🔆 The bright spots: There are assets to build upon.

  • Bronx public libraries hosted over 430,000 Wi-Fi sessions in FY24 and have launched promising pilots like lending home Wi-Fi devices.

  • The number of Lehman College students earning technology bachelor’s degrees has more than doubled since 2016.

  • Big Apple Connect offers free internet to many NYCHA residents, and the state’s Affordable Broadband Act requires internet providers to offer $15-per-month broadband to low-income households.

➕ According to a recent survey from LinkNYC and Tech:NYC, conducted by Harrisx:

  • 57% of Bronx residents use free public Wi-Fi at least once a month.

  • 35% rely on mobile data or public Wi-Fi to access the internet.

So what’s next? The report calls for targeted, local solutions. Think:

  • Launching a targeted campaign to enroll residents in affordable broadband plans.

  • Establishing a Bronx Laptop Lending Library.

  • Scaling CUNY’s Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) initiative.

🗽 Why it matters for NYC’s tech community: If we want NYC to remain a global tech leader, we can’t afford to leave parts of the city offline. 

  • Bridging the digital divide in the Bronx is both an equity and an economic issue. Access to the internet is a prerequisite for participating in and preparing for the modern economy, from remote work and doing homework to telehealth to coding bootcamps.

In other reading:

  • Why companies are doubling down on upgraded offices (Construction Drive)

  • AI could create these new jobs despite gloomy forecasts, experts say (ABC News)

  • Hootology, an NYC-based market research platform, raised $1.1 million in pre-seed funding. JAD Family Revocable Trust led the round.

  • Retirable, an NYC-based holistic retirement planning platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding. IA Capital Group led the round and was joined by Nationwide Ventures, Western & Southern Financial Group, Clocktower Ventures, and existing investors Primary Venture Partners, Portage Ventures, Vestigo Ventures, and SilverCircle.

  • July 18: Tech Pickleball NYC, a group of techies who come together on Friday mornings for coffee, bagels, pickleball, and good vibes. Register here.

  • July 19-20: Agentic AI App Hackathon, a two-day event to build and deploy your own agentic applications on Google Cloud with Cloud Run. Register here.

  • July 20: AI Sailing Sundays — NYC Edition, a series of informal, three-hour sailing sessions designed to bridge the gap between AI founders, NYC investors, and enterprise leaders. Register here.

  • July 22: Vibe Coding After Dark: Building AI Agents, an interactive workshop where you'll learn to code using natural language for Shopify integrations and extensions. Register here.

  • July 23: Digital Art Salon, a monthly meetup for artists, builders, and creative technologists working across AI, AR, generative systems, and digital debris. Register here.

  • July 24: Product Builders in Health and Wellness Tech Happy Hour, a chance to connect with builders and major players in healthcare and wellness tech and discuss your ideas and projects. Register here.

  • July 31: Healthcare x AI Agents Hack & Learn, ​a hands-on sprint to build safer, smarter AI agents for healthcare. Register here.

  • August 5: Fashion & Fashion-tech Mixer, where you can connect with fashion-tech innovators and disruptors. Register here.

  • September 10: NYC Summit, Primary’s annual invite-only conference, bringing together 2,000 top founders, VCs, and LPs. This year’s speakers include Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals), David Karp (Tumblr), Toyin Ajayi (Cityblock Health), Lina Khan (FTC), Kareem Amin (Clay), and more. Apply to attend here.

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