Tuesday, March 10, 2026
In today’s digest, potholes are everywhere, the latest tech jobs data, and what’s that smell? 👃
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to add 1,000 new preschool seats for 3-year-olds this fall, expanding the program to 56 zip codes in neighborhoods where families have struggled to find spots. 🧸 (New York Times)
The expansion will include Staten Island, which had been left out of earlier phases of the city’s childcare rollout.
The program currently serves about 39,400 students.
It’s city drivers vs. crater-sized potholes out there, folks. Pothole complaints across NYC have surged 33% this year after heavy winter storms. 🚧 (NY Post)
Can you guess which borough reigns supreme in pothole complaints so far this year?
We’ll just tell you: Queens alone accounts for nearly half of the 11,300 reports.
The “devil’s tongue” plant — a cousin of the infamous corpse flower — has bloomed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, giving New Yorkers a short window to get a look at one of nature’s strangest flowers. 🌺 (PIX 11)
The amorphophallus konjac gives off an odor like that of a “distinctly dead mammal, with an undertone of musty basement.”
To see and smell the devil’s tongue (a sentence we never thought we’d write), you can visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden till Sunday from 10am to 6pm.
➕ One more thing: For 13 years, the annual NYC Computer Science Opportunity Fair has connected New York’s tech community with the next generation of talent. This year’s fair takes place on April 21, and your company can still get involved!
Think: 2,400 high school students meeting engineers, founders, college reps, and nonprofit leaders to learn about career paths in tech.
Tech:NYC members including Coinbase, Deloitte, Etsy, Google, IAC, Justworks, Meta, Microsoft, Uniswap, and Warby Parker are showing up — with room for more!
Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, who helped establish the fair, calls it “one of my favorite days of the year.”
Join in here by becoming a sponsor, hosting a booth, or sending engineers.
In other reading:
Behold the first-ever trumpeter swan (Hell Gate)
Dolphins spotted in the East River, off Randall’s Island (CBS New York)
You can now rent out these iconic NYC spaces to host your private event (Time Out New York)
Tech Hiring Steadies and NYC is Leading the Way
The latest CompTIA Tech Jobs Report suggests tech hiring remains uneven nationally — but job postings are climbing again, and New York appears to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the rebound.
Let’s break it all down. 👇
New York leads the surge in tech job postings:
NYC recorded 15,986 tech job postings in February, the most of any metro area in the U.S. and an increase of 3,988 from January, the biggest jump nationwide. 📈
New York also saw the largest month-over-month increase in postings among all states, adding 2,545 new listings. 📈
New York accounts for 9% of dedicated AI and machine learning job listings, the highest share among major metros. 📈
🔌 Shameless plug: Tech:NYC has a Jobs Board, hosted by Getro, featuring 5,000+ roles from 400+ tech companies.
⏪ Back to the data: Remote tech work still revolves around NYC.
Even in the era of distributed teams, New York remains a hub for remote tech jobs.
The city recorded 3,162 remote tech job postings, the highest among all metros analyzed.
AI hiring keeps accelerating: Job postings for AI engineers increased by 1,044 month-over-month, reflecting growing demand for companies building AI capabilities. 🤖
Developers still dominate tech hiring:
Software developers and engineers led all tech postings with 50,743 listings, followed by systems engineers (21,473) and cybersecurity roles (12,509). 💻
🎓 Degrees optional: A notable share of tech jobs don’t require a traditional four-year degree.
88% of network support specialist postings and 72% of tech support roles did not require a bachelor’s degree.
🚀 The takeaway: Hiring isn’t roaring back quite yet, but demand for skills is clearly stabilizing, especially in AI, software engineering, and cybersecurity. The data is particularly encouraging for New York’s tech ecosystem.
When hiring picks up, NYC is still one of the first places companies look for talent (obviously).
In other reading:
Who’s a better writer: AI or humans? Take our quiz (New York Times)
2026 Female Founders 500: The trailblazing women daring to defy the odds (Inc.)
What do you do and what do you make? (Intelligencer)
Welcome to our weekly jobs section, where we spotlight a selection of the NYC tech jobs from Tech:NYC’s Jobs Board — all recently posted. 🔥
Today, we’re highlighting a few operations-focused roles:
Chief of Staff, Office of the President — CLEAR ($200k-$250k / year + equity): You’ll help inform the strategy and decisions that define CLEAR’s role in a rapidly evolving landscape with a direct line of sight into strategy, commercial, operations, partnerships, acquisitions, and board governance. Apply here.
Technical Program Manager – Responsible AI — Microsoft ($119,800-$274,800 / year): You’ll establish and operationalize AI safety, governance, and responsibility practices across the model lifecycle, working with researchers to identify risks, set responsible AI standards, and ensure appropriate mitigations are in place before models are released. Apply here.
AI Operations Lead — Rain ($147,700-200k / year + equity): You'll work cross-functionally with every part of the organization, going deep into the business to map inefficiencies, build working solutions, and drive adoption across teams. Apply here.
➕ One more thing: Tech:NYC is hiring! We’re looking for an Associate Director, Workforce Programs to administer, operate, and strategically evolve our workforce development portfolio at the intersection of education, technology, and economic opportunity in New York City. Apply here.
Amigo AI, an NYC-based developer of patient-facing AI agents, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Madrona led the round, joined by Optum Ventures.
AMI Labs, a world models developer, raised $1.03 billion at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation from Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Tim and Rosemary Berners-Lee, Jim Breyer, Mark Cuban, Mark Leslie, Xavier Niel, and Eric Schmidt.
Anchr, an NYC-based AI-powered operating system for food distributors, raised $5.8 million in seed funding from a16z Speedrun, Anterra Capital, Offline Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, and others.
Escape, an NYC-based security engineering platform, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Balderton led the round, joined by Uncorrelated Ventures, Iris, and YC.
KAST, an NYC‑based platform designed for saving and spending stablecoins, raised $80 million in Series A funding. QED Investors and Left Lane Capital led the round and were joined by Peak XV Partners, HSG, and DST Global Partners.
PactFi, an NYC-based provider of workflow software for private credit deal teams, raised $25 million in Series A funding. 7Ridge led the round, joined by Vestigo Ventures.
Sigma360, an NYC-based provider of AI risk and compliance software, raised $17.3 million in Series B funding. Moderne Ventures led the round, joined by Vocap Partners, Orrick, Contour Ventures, and Mosaik Partners.
Featured events:
⭐ March 19: City & State’s Digital New York Summit, for New York’s technology and information leaders from government and industry to gather for candid discussions and thought-provoking presentations on innovative ideas that are making everyday life for all New Yorkers more livable, safer, and more convenient. Register here with promo code TECHNYC for 25% off.
⭐ March 26: Tech:NYC’s Decoded Futures Demo Day, a showcase of creativity, collaboration, and innovation, featuring nonprofit leaders who have been exploring, over our 8-week program, how AI can scale the work and impact of the social sector. Register here.
⭐ March 31: Runway AI Summit, bringing together industry leaders across media, technology, consumer brands, robotics, and more to explore how AI is reshaping how work gets done — and what comes next for enterprise. Register here with promo code TECHNYC50 for 50% off.
⭐ April 6-9: HumanX’s conference for AI leaders in San Francisco, uniting 6,500+ leaders, builders, and investors driving real transformation. Discover cutting-edge innovations and accelerate your impact through networking opportunities. Register here with promo code HX26P_TECHNYC to get $$$ off your pass.
Other great events:
March 11: YouCode Forum: Building What's Next in The Agentic Era, an evening with James Kaplan, CTO of McKinsey, and Bryan McCann, CTO of You.com, alongside enterprise builders and technical leaders. Register here.
March 17: Towards Emissions-Free Microfreight, a multi-stakeholder discussion to investigate and assess the viability of BATWorks as a potential hub for emissions-free microfreight systems. Register here.
March 19: Founder Breakfast, a highly curated breakfast for founders who have raised Seed to Series B. Register here.
March 19: Human by Design: The Empathy Edge in an AI World, for women and allies who build — PMs, founders, designers, marketers, and engineers — to discuss how empathy, judgment, and collaborative AI tools can help you grow your influence and deliver meaningful impact in your work. Register here.
March 19: Own the Room: How to Speak and Present Effectively in Meeting, an interactive workshop designed for women who want to strengthen their voice at work. Register here.
March 19: Airtable Buildathon, a one-day, live builder competition where participants solve real business challenges using Airtable and AI-powered workflows. Register here.
March 20: Keeping It Urban Summit. A one-day conference featuring 10+ powerhouse panelists on media interfaces, robotics, and civic innovation, 5+ early-stage startups, and creative tech artist talks. Register here.
March 21: Anti-Slopathon, a hackathon where participants use AI to build tools, games, features, and experiences, but show how they’ve listened to their user and applied taste and design judgment. Register here.
March 25: Speed Pitch: Guaranteed 1:1 Meetings With Investors, for tech startups with market-ready MVP or revenue generating, preferably with one underrepresented founder, pre-seed to Series A. Register here with promo code TECHNYC20 for 20% off.
March 26: Founder Dinner, an intimate evening with a highly curated group of Series A+ founders that are scaling. Register here.
March 26: American Fintech Council’s inaugural Marketing and Communications Cocktails & Conversations, hosted in collaboration with Tech:NYC, CLYDE, and Current. Register here.
April 2: NYU Wagner’s 20th International Policy and Planning Summit, bringing together academics, practitioners, and students to explore cross-sectoral solutions to the interconnected global challenges of climate change, migration, and global urban resilience. Register here.
April 16: Construction Robotics Summit: From Dirt to Data, bringing together the builders, technologists, and decision-makers advancing robotics across the built environment. Register here for early-bird pricing before March 31.
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