Thursday, October 2, 2025

October 02, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Thursday, October 2, 2025 

In today’s digest, the Yankees extended their season, NYC’s basic income program, and the city as a cybersecurity powerhouse. 🏙️ 💻

Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

  • 💵 NYC is piloting a basic income program that pays young, low-income residents $12,000 in cryptocurrency over five months, aiming to help cover costs like housing, school, and medical expenses. (Bloomberg)

    • 160 New Yorkers between the ages of 18 and 30 were chosen via a lottery system after applying.

    • Officials see this as a test in digital welfare and financial inclusion, and it’s the first program in the country to give out the money in cryptocurrency.

  • More on the federal shutdown. 💼 Hitting New York, the shutdown is forcing some government offices to scale back and creating uncertainty for thousands of city workers and contractors. Residents are bracing for delays in everything from court cases to transit projects. (New York Times)

    • Local officials warn the impact could grow if the stalemate drags on, especially in a city with so many federal ties.

  • The New York Yankees extended their season Wednesday night with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series. Jazz Chisholm Jr. sealed the win by sprinting all the way home from first base on Austin Wells' tiebreaking single in the eighth inning. (ABC7NY)

    • The rivalry stakes are as high as ever, with the Red Sox looking to spoil New York’s October dreams yet again. ⚾


In other reading:

  • Manhattan office leasing through Q3 strongest in more than 20 years (Crain’s New York)

  • 19 cool places you can see for Open House New York weekend 2025 (Gothamist)

  • Starbucks is closing dozens of New York City coffee shops (ABC News)

NYC Cybersecurity Takes Center Stage

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and New York is making headlines for all the right reasons. 🗽

What’s new: At DEF CON this summer, Trail of Bits — a homegrown cybersecurity firm cofounded by NYU alum Dan Guido (and a Tech:NYC member!) — took second place (and $3 million) at DARPA’s prestigious AI Cyber Challenge. 

  • Their AI system, Buttercup, submitted proofs and patches for a range of weakness classes (injection, memory safety, etc.) drawn from MITRE’s Top 25 Most Dangerous Common Weakness Enumeration (CWEs).

  • In the finals across 23 open-source repositories, Buttercup found 28 vulnerabilities and successfully applied 19 patches, all without human interaction.

  • Buttercup is now open source, meaning startups can run enterprise-grade vulnerability detection on a laptop instead of paying millions for proprietary tools.

⏰ Timely innovation: This breakthrough comes as policymakers in Albany and NYC double down on cybersecurity.

Think you’re a cybersecurity expert? Check out this deepfake detection game from Tech:NYC member Reality Defender and see if you can get onto the leaderboard. 🏅

Be part of the convo: On October 7, attend the Information Security Summit, for public sector leaders, cybersecurity pros, and tech experts protecting New York’s state and local government operations. Register with promo code TECHNYC for a 25% discount here.

In other reading:

  • The company founders who think they need not one but two successors (Wall Street Journal)

  • US jobs market yet to be seriously disrupted by AI, Yale study finds (The Guardian)

  • Dash0, a New York City-based GenAI observability platform, raised $35 million in Series A funding. Accel and Cherry Ventures led the round, joined by insider Dig Ventures.

  • Filament, a New York City-based invite-only connection platform for professionals, raised $10.7 million in seed funding from EQT Ventures, Flybridge Capital, Oceans Ventures, and others.


  • Outsmart, a New York-based online learning platform, raised $25 million. DST Global Partners and Forerunner led, joined by Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, Reach Capital, Abstract, and Latitud.

  • Vibe.co, a New York City-based ad platform designed to bring hyper-targeting to connected TV, raised $50 million in Series B funding. Hedosophia led the round and was joined by Elaia, Singular, and others.

  • October 6: Make It in Brooklyn Climate Tech Pitch Contest, where five founders will pitch to a panel of expert judges, who will evaluate each presentation based on criteria such as innovation, feasibility, market potential, and impact. Register here.

  • October 7-9: The 12th Annual TechFutures Summit, featuring hands-on workshops, keynote speakers, live podcast recordings, and networking events. Register here.

  • October 7: The Executive AI Cocktail Hour, for ​CEOs, directors, VPs, and other senior leaders running a SaaS company, agency, publishing house, or any organization that's seriously exploring what AI can do for your business. Register here.

  • October 7: Information Security Summit, for public sector leaders, cybersecurity pros, and tech experts committed to safeguarding New York’s state and local government operations. Register with promo code TECHNYC for a 25% discount here.

  • October 7: Fall Fintech Hour, a happy hour for leaders across fintech, banking, embedded finance, and financial services. Register here.

  • October 8: Speed Pitching: 1:1 Meetings With Investors, for AI-powered startups with market-ready MVP or revenue generating, preferably with one underrepresented founder, pre-seed to Series A. Register with promo code TechNYC20 for a 20% discount here.

  • October 8: AAPI Women Incubator: Pitch Day, where 12 founders will share what they’re building and the impact they’re aiming to make across hospitality, CPG, tech, and creative services. Register here.

  • October 9: NYC Tech Poker Tournament, where up to $500 in tech prizes and the chance to meet some of NYC’s best engineers are at stake. Register here.

  • October 13: How AI is Changing the Playbook for Consumer Subscription with Phil Carter, who will share his playbook for growing consumer subscriptions and how AI is reshaping the game. Register here.

  • October 23: NYC AI Demos, a series collab between Tech:NYC, Pensar AI, and the Refinery at Domino, this month featuring live demos from Tabs, Whop, Slingshot AI, Rogo, and more to be announced. Register here.

  • October 23: Tech:NYC and Crain’s Tech Summit, a day of conversations that explore how AI is transforming key industries — from reshaping real estate tools and bedside care to revolutionizing financial strategies and raising urgent legal considerations. Register with promo code FRIENDSOFTECHNYC for a 15% discount here.

Daily Digest Rewards 🎁 

Treat yourself: Send subscribers our way, and we’ll send swag your way.

1 Referral: Shoutout in the Digest
5 Referrals: Obviously NYC Hat
10 Referrals: Obviously NYC Tote Bag
25 Referrals: Obviously NYC Sweatshirt

You currently have 0 referrals, only 1 away from receiving a Shoutout in the Tech:NYC Digest.

Or share your personal link with others: https://technycdigest.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

Any feedback or suggestions of things to add? Get in touch here.
Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to receive it directly here.