Wednesday, February 18, 2026
In today’s digest, NJ to NYC transit woes, dogs keeping walkers on their toes, and the state of the U.S. coworking industry (and what it shows). 🧑💻💼
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We start with news from our friends in New Jersey. NJ Transit riders to NYC are in for a month of character-building commutes as trains shift from the 115-year-old Portal Bridge to its long-awaited replacement. 🚆 (New York Times)
NJ Transit will cut its weekday service over the Portal Bridge nearly in half, and service into Penn Station from several NJ stations will be halted.
The work is expected to be completed by March 14.
Here are some alternate routes to get to NYC from NJ.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed the certificate of incorporation this week to create a new Business Improvement District (BID) in Coney Island. The move includes a $1 million operating budget for the first year, with support for increased sanitation, marketing, and businesses. 🎢 (Gothamist)
Coney Island will become Brooklyn’s 24th BID and the city’s 78th overall.
Ahh, it’s nearly springtime in the city: The snow is (slowly) melting, the flowers will soon bloom, and… dog poop is everywhere?! It’s not just you. 311 has received 821 complaints about dog waste citywide this year, up 35.8% from the same period last year — and of those 821 complaints, 510 were made between February 1-16. 🐕 (CBS New York)
It’s illegal not to pick up after your dog and could cost you a $250 fine, but the Department of Sanitation has not given out a ticket since the snowstorm in January.
The borough with the most complaints? Brooklyn reigns supreme with 151.
In other reading:
Introducing (Tech:NYC member!) Harlem Capital’s next chapter: All winners welcome (Harlem Capital)
Center for Brooklyn History catalogs thousands of strange artifacts for first time (Gothamist)
NYC Off-Broadway Week returns with 2-for-1 tickets (PIX 11)
Coworking Settles Into Scale
The Q4 ’25 CoworkingCafe U.S. Coworking Industry Report shows a coworking sector that continues to expand, but with sharper focus on large, established markets like New York. ☕
Growth is steady, site sizes are getting bigger, and pricing has largely stabilized.
Here’s what matters, especially for NYC. 👇
🏢 Continued growth: The U.S. closed Q4 with 8,854 coworking locations, up 5% from Q3.
Total footprint reached 159 million square feet, adding more than 7 million square feet in a single quarter.
🗽 Manhattan is a top market: The borough hit 299 coworking locations in Q4 (most in the Northeast), posting another quarter-over-quarter increase and reinforcing its role as one of the country’s densest flex markets.
📐 NYC leads in sheer scale: Manhattan closed Q4 with 12.44 million square feet of coworking space, the largest footprint of any U.S. market.
The average Manhattan coworking site measures 41,590 square feet, among the largest in the nation.
Nationally, the average site size is just over 18,000 square feet, underscoring how outsized New York’s flex hubs have become.
💰 Pricing finds equilibrium: National median monthly memberships edged down slightly to $220, signaling a stable pricing environment.
Manhattan holds the highest median membership cost at $339 per month, with meeting rooms around $67/hour and day passes at $39.
Brooklyn sits close behind at ~$320 per month, suggesting sustained demand across boroughs.
📈 Year-over-year momentum continues: Compared to Q4 2024, coworking locations nationwide rose 15%, while total square footage expanded nearly 17%.
Manhattan’s location count increased by more than 15% year-over-year, while average site size held around 41,600 square feet.
“The theme coming out of COVID was operators bringing the office to the employee, with expansions in secondary and suburban markets to meet domestic migration trends,” said Peter Kolaczynski, Director of Research at Yardi. “The theme looking forward seems to be where can operators and office building owners meet the needs of corporate occupiers that are committed to growing coworking and flexible footprints.”
In other reading:
AI is playing a bigger role at the 2026 Olympics (Axios)
Why AI adoption stalls, according to industry data (HBR)
How to ace a job interview with an AI (Wall Street Journal)
Avantos, an NYC-based developer of an AI operating system designed for client onboarding and servicing financial institution clients, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round and was joined by others.
Marquee, an NYC-based AI-powered decision intelligence platform for professional sports organizations, raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding. AnD Ventures led the round and was joined by others.
Moab, an NYC-based developer of an operating system designed for equipment rental and dealership businesses, raised $16 million across Seed and Series A rounds. Elad Gil led both rounds and was joined by Ironspring Ventures and angel investors.
Novig, an NYC-based sports betting exchange, raised $75 million in Series B funding led by Pantera Capital with participation from Multicoin Capital, Makers Fund, Edge Equity, and existing investors Forerunner, Perceptive Ventures, and NFX.
Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm (and Tech:NYC member!), raised more than $10 billion in its 10th flagship fund.
Vestwell, an NYC-based 401k savings plan company (and Tech:NYC member!), raised $385 million at a $2 billion valuation led by Blue Owl Capital and Sixth Street Growth. Neuberger Berman, SLW, Morgan Stanley, Franklin Templeton, TIAA Ventures, and HarbourVest joined.
Tech:NYC is proud to partner with Company Ventures, Blackstone LaunchPad, NYCEDC, and the Zahn Innovation Center at CCNY to deliver the NYC Startup Internship Program for Summer 2026. This 10-week program connects high-potential NYC students with early-stage tech companies for paid, meaningful work experience while building equitable pathways into our industry. Apply to host an intern here by February 20.
The Startup Station’s six-week virtual Fundraising Bootcamp teaches MBA-level finance for founders with no prior experience, helps you craft your financial story like a CFO, create investor-grade financials, and approach fundraising through an investor’s lens with guidance from a veteran investor. Apply here by February 23 and use promo code OPENVC400! to save $400.
EY is accepting nominations and applications for Entrepreneur of the Year New York, honoring ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the U.S. Nominate or apply by February 27 here.
Applications are now open for the eighth annual Transit Tech Lab, an accelerated innovation program founded by the Partnership Fund for New York City and the MTA to improve public transit in the NY metro area. This year’s Lab is seeking tech companies with solutions that can help transit agencies advance infrastructure systems or modernize data and operational workflows. Apply here by February 27.
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s Make It in Brooklyn Ag Tech Pitch Contest, seeking innovative startups that develop cutting-edge technologies to address critical challenges in modern agriculture — from precision farming and crop monitoring to sustainable irrigation, soil health management, and farm automation. Apply here by February 28.
Element 46 Tech Accelerator, a Westchester County program for tech startups, is accepting applications for its spring 2026 cohort. Applications are viewed on a rolling basis until March 6. Apply here.
Headstream Accelerator, supporting early-stage digital health and edtech products that address the mental well-being of young people. Benefits include 16 weeks of virtual-first programming, funded in-person kickoff and conference attendance, access to a supportive network of advisors, funders, industry experts, and a $30k non-dilutive stipend. Apply here by March 15.
CUNY 2x Tech’s NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Residency Program, connecting high-potential Computer Systems Technology students with NYC-based employers for 10-week, full-time internships focused on software engineering and data analytics. Employers, express interest here.
HubSpot’s How You Hustle, where you and your business could be featured and receive free press exposure to their 1.5 million subscribers. Apply here.
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s Living Lab is seeking innovative technologies that address operational and quality-of-life challenges in urban parks and public spaces. Selected participants will use DBP-operated streets and plazas as real-world testing grounds for their technologies. Apply here.
Zero Irving — the Union Square tech hub home to Civic Hall — is relaunching its Workforce Development Project Fund, which awards $200,000 annually for programs that expand tech access and economic mobility for underrepresented New Yorkers, especially those in Manhattan Community District 3 (Lower East Side, East Village, Chinatown). Submit your proposal here.
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