Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 

In today’s digest, Albany glow-up, after-school programming, and coworking spaces in NYC. 💼

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• Mayor Eric Adams announced a new “After-School for All” plan on Tuesday, designed to make childcare more affordable and accessible to New Yorkers. It’s part of a $331 million effort to bring after-school education to all public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade. 📚 (NBC New York)

  • The new funding will support the addition of 20,000 new seats over the next three years, bringing the total number of public school students served by after-school programming to 184,000. 🎒
    
    

• The Citizens Budget Commission has launched the Competitive NYC: Value Proposition Tracker, an online dashboard providing insight into the forces shaping New York City’s ability to attract and retain residents and businesses. (CBC NY)

  • For tech businesses, this is a vital tool for staying informed about new talent, and the city’s evolving strengths. 

  • Check back tomorrow for a full breakdown! 🗽
    
    

• Albany’s gettin’ a glow up. Plans are in place for nearly half a billion dollars in state funding to go toward a massive downtown revitalization plan. State officials say it’s a move that could reshape the community plagued by suburban flight, inner-city violence, and flagging economic development. 🔁 (Times Union)
  
  

In other reading:

• How to be old: Lessons from a 70-year-old former NYC influencer (Gothamist)

• How to throw a party in a city park, the right way (The CITY)

• Deloitte commits to massive swath of prime Manhattan office space (WSJ)
  
  

Coworking is hot hot hot. 🔥

A new report from Coworking Cafe shows that the coworking landscape in Q1 has been shaped by a stable pace of national growth, increased adoption in midsized markets, and rising square footage. 

In Q2 and beyond, the industry will face more demand from hybrid teams, solo professionals, and enterprise clients — even in previously overlooked metros that are now on the map. 🗺️

• Coworking Cafe analyzed the 50 largest coworking markets in the U.S. — capturing the nuanced developments across the country and how businesses are responding to changing needs. 

A few key trends to watch: 

🧗 Coworking keeps climbing:

• There were 7,840 coworking spaces nationwide in Q1 — up 2% from Q4 2024.

• That’s a net gain of 145 spaces, fueled by urban growth and second-tier markets.

• 34 of 50 U.S. markets expanded coworking supply.

• 4 million sq. ft. of new space was added, bringing total U.S. coworking inventory to almost 141 million sq. ft.

🗽 New York stays hot:

• Manhattan climbed to 280 coworking spaces, top four nationally — and that’s just one of our boroughs.

• Manhattan ranked first in total coworking square footage at 11.32 million sq. ft. (up from 11.27 million in Q4).

• Average space size dipped 2%, but the borough still leads the nation at 40,429 sq. ft.

• Brooklyn grew coworking spaces by 8% to 84 locations.

💸 Big Apple, big price tag: Manhattan is still priciest for dedicated desks, now $510/month, down slightly from $519.

Coworking isn’t just surviving — it’s evolving. In a city where talent density and serendipitous meetings are core to startup culture, flexible spaces are becoming mission-critical infrastructure. Expect coworking to play an even bigger role as NYC doubles down on being the global hub for innovation.

Dig deeper: Read Coworking Cafe’s Q1 report here.

In other reading:

• Here’s what to know about Meta’s standalone AI app to rival ChatGPT (Forbes)

• IBM pledges $150 billion to boost U.S. tech growth, computer manufacturing (CNBC)

• How AI tools are driving a vibe shift in programming (Tech Brew)
  
  

• Zoe, an NYC-based wealth platform for RIAs, raised $29.6 million in Series B funding. Sageview Capital led the round and was joined by CAPTRUST, Creative Planning, Mariner Wealth Advisors, and others.
  
  

• Tech:NYC and Rho’s Studio Open Hours at NY Tech Week, where we’ll shoot short video interviews with 10 founders, spotlighting the power and vibrancy of NYC's tech ecosystem.​ Apply by May 12 here.
  
  

• Urban Future Lab hosts the Urban Future Prize Competition, which identifies and supports top climate-tech startups. Deadline extended! Apply by May 4 here.
  
  

• America on Tech is accepting applications for TECH360, a program for students to explore artificial intelligence and develop an AI-powered tool to pitch to mock clients. Apply here by the May 4 priority deadline.
  
  

• Techstars Economic Mobility, for entrepreneurs designing innovative solutions that generate greater economic mobility for low- and moderate-income Americans. Apply by June 11 here.
  
  

• AcceleratorCON introduces Draft Combine, an opportunity for startups to be scouted by top accelerators and investors. Apply here.
  
  

• Each month, Union Square Ventures hosts usvwork — a casual coworking day for founders and builders in NYC. Apply here.
  
  

• Company Ventures’ Grand Central Tech Residency, for pre-seed/seed stage teams building venture-scale companies, or individuals launching a venture within six months. Apply here.
  
  

• Forum Ventures is accepting pitches to its Forum for Founders program. The firm is offering $100K and admission to its pre-seed accelerator to provide personalized GTM and sales support. Apply here.