Tuesday, April 15, 2025

April 15, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 

In today’s digest, concerts are around the corner, the city goes car-free, and the e-scooter is on the up. 🛴🎵

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  • Get your dancing shoes ready. More concerts will be back this summer. 

    • The city has given a (conditional) green light for Forest Hills Stadium to hold concerts again, after disagreements between organizers and local residents threatened the summer series. The lineup: Phish, the Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, and more. (New York Post)

    • Punk Island NYC will once again hold its free music festival at Randalls Island this summer. (amNY)

    • Lincoln Center’s summer arts festival will also be back with events like jazz, classical music, dance, theater, opera and comedy. (Gothamist)

  • In celebration of Earth Day, more than 50 streets will be car-free next Saturday, April 26. Select streets and plazas will be closed from 10am to 4pm, allowing people to walk or ride bikes at their leisure. 🌎 (Gothamist)

    • An annual tradition since 2016, the event marks the start of Open Streets season! 

    • Citi Bike (a Tech:NYC member) will offer free 30-minute rides with the promo code CARFREENYC25. 

  • There was an increase in e-scooter ridership last month in the Bronx and Queens, up 105% month-over-month, according to Lime, the e-vehicle sharing company (also a Tech:NYC member!). This increase comes after NYC expanded an e-scooter sharing pilot program in eastern Queens in 2024. (amNY)

➕ More word on the street: Tech:NYC’s Urbanism Fellow and Justworks founder Isaac Oates offers recommendations on what NYC should do with 10,000+ miles of curb.

In other reading:

  • New York City martinis, by the numbers (Punch)

  • Met Gala 2025: An explainer (The Cut)

  • Notes from the underground: A look at subway cars new and old (The CITY)

Americans are working less — and that might not be a bad thing. 🌅💼

Gallup’s new analysis finds that the average U.S. full-time worker is now logging over one fewer hour per week compared to 2019 (44.1 vs. 42.9). What’s behind the drop? A shift in priorities.

🔑 Key takeaways:

  • Health and well-being matter: Workers increasingly cite mental health, burnout, and work-life balance as top reasons for trimming hours.

  • Flexibility is the new currency: The rise of hybrid and remote work has enabled more people to craft schedules that work for their lives — and productivity hasn’t taken a hit.

  • Not all sectors are equal: While white-collar and knowledge workers are leading the shift, hourly and lower-wage workers still face more rigid scheduling constraints.

Leaders of the most engaged organizations focus on: 

  • Aligning their workplace culture with the organization’s purpose and value to customers.

  • Building stronger bonds with employees through clear priorities.

  • Identifying managers who engage and inspire employees.

📈 On the ground: NYC tech hiring remains strong, with over 7,000 roles live on Tech:NYC’s jobs board!

In other reading:

  • Agentic AI: The next big shift in how we work and innovate (Fast Company)

  • The power of ecosystems: How collaboration fuels tech (Forbes)

  • Doctronic, a NYC-based health assistant, raised $5 million in seed funding from USV and Tusk Ventures.

  • April 16: VC Best Practices: How VC Firms Hire and Scale Talent, an educational series for new investors who want to be exposed to venture and startup thinking. Register here. 

  • April 16: FirstGen Founders Powering the Care Economy, a panel conversation and networking event featuring immigrant and first-generation founders building innovative solutions across the care continuum. Register here.

  • April 17: Neighborhood VC Coffee Meet-Ups, to connect with local VCs and founders in NYC. Register here.

  • April 17: AMA: Techstars Economic Mobility, an info session for the Techstars Economic Mobility program, for entrepreneurs designing solutions that generate greater economic mobility for low- and moderate-income Americans. Register here.

  • April 23: Attention in the Age of AI with Gary Vaynerchuk, a discussion and Q&A on marketing oneself in the age of AI. Register here. 

  • April 23 and April 30: A 90-minute Masterclass: “Ace Your Financials and Use Them to Strengthen Your Pitch”. Register with promo code TECHNYC25 here. 

  • April 27: hackNY Spring, a one-day conference for early- to mid-career developers who want to level up in tech. Register with promo code techNYC here.

  • April 28-29: Momentum AI New York 2024, to connect with people who are pioneering global AI transformation. Register here.

  • April 29: Latest & Greatest from Jonathan Frankle, an AI Review talk from the Chief AI Scientist at Databricks on his latest research on the newest AI methods. Register here. 

  • April 30: Empower & Elevate Your Workforce Talent Mixer, for employers seeking to connect with the brightest emerging talent in social media marketing, Python, IT, data, and cybersecurity. Register here.

  • May 6: 43North Startup Showcase: Upstate NY, to hear pitches from founders in the 43North portfolio and across Upstate New York, and to connect, collaborate, and network with venture leaders and ecosystem builders. Register here.

  • May 6-7: AI Agent Conference, for leaders driving the next era of autonomous artificial intelligence, featuring 300+ world-class AI leaders, senior execs and top founders. Register with promo code TECHNYC15AI here.

  • May 15-16: Black Women Talk Tech hosts its 9th Annual Roadmap to Billions Conference. Register here and save 20% with code RTBPARTNER20.

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