Wednesday, November 5, 2025
In today’s digest, NYC has a new mayor, how your neighbors voted, and what the mayoral election means for the New York tech community. 🧑💻🗽
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Zohran Mamdani was elected New York’s 111th mayor last night. Here are seven takeaways. Plus, more on what his election means for tech in NYC the “Today in Tech” section below! 🗽 (New York Times)
The Associated Press called the race just 35 minutes after polls closed, marking one of the fastest mayoral calls in city history.
Voter turnout topped 2 million — the most since the 1960s.
Zohran Mamdani will be the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent — as well as the youngest in over a century — to serve as Mayor of New York.
New Yorkers also approved four housing-related ballot measures to cut red tape and accelerate new construction.
How did your neighbors vote? There’s a map for that. Explore this interactive precinct-level map to see how every neighborhood cast its votes. 🔎🗺️ (New York Times)
Zoom in to compare results precinct by precinct and discover which candidates led in each area.
It’s been a good week for subway news in New York. Yesterday the MTA approved the construction of 378 shiny new R268 train cars to replace its aging fleet. 🚇 (Transportation Today)
Funded through the MTA’s $68 billion Capital Plan, the cars, expected to arrive in fall 2028, will feature brighter lights, clearer signage, and more accessible seating, plus tech to support modern signaling.
This comes after yesterday’s announcement by Governor Kathy Hochul of additional trips on the A and L lines designed to make weekday commutes smoother.
In other reading:
BagelFest is set to return to Citi Field this month (amNY)
New Yorker’s voted build, build, build! (Curbed)
How the Interborough Express could transform New York (New York Times)
What Zohran Mamdani’s Election Means for NYC and Tech
New York woke up this morning to a new era in City Hall. And the tech sector is paying close attention.
Last night’s election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor marked the arrival of a leader whose digital fluency and focus on affordability resonate deeply across the city’s innovation economy. 🗳️💻
Here’s what his election means for NYC and tech:
🧑💻 A digital native in City Hall: Mamdani speaks the language of a connected generation — not just online, but in how he ran his campaign: like a startup — agile, data-driven, and community-focused.
That’s a big reason why we saw so many tech workers contributing to his campaign.
His embrace of digital engagement signals a potential for smarter, more user-friendly government services, an area where NYC’s tech scene has long offered to help.
🏙️ Tackling one of tech’s biggest pain points: Affordability: Even as NYC’s tech workforce hit record highs, housing affordability remains a breaking point.
Tech:NYC’s research with StreetEasy found that an entry-level tech worker can afford only 2.1% of studio or one-bedroom rentals.
Mamdani’s focus on cost of living — now paired with voter-approved charter revisions to ease housing construction — could ease that pressure and help retain the talent that drives the city’s innovation engine.
🚀 A chance to modernize City Hall: NYC’s tech leaders see opportunity in this moment.
From streamlining permits to applying AI for better service delivery, there’s growing alignment between Mamdani’s reform agenda and the tech sector’s push to modernize government.
📈 Democracy as a growth signal: And let’s not overlook the civic side: More than 2 million New Yorkers voted — the highest turnout since the 1960s (!).
High civic engagement reflects a city invested in its own future, which can only be great for innovation.
Bottom line: The tech sector in NYC is made up of people who are New Yorkers first, and tech workers second. Tech workers live, commute, raise families here — and they have rallied around making NYC the most livable city in the world.
In other reading:
AI is going to be a game changer for Black Friday (Fast Company)
The EV battery tech that’s worth the hype, according to experts (WIRED)
Tom Brady says his dog is a clone of family's previous pet (ESPN)
Parable, an NYC-based AI impact measurement startup, has raised $16.5 million in seed funding. HOF Capital led the round, joined by Story Ventures, InMotion Ventures, Lasagna, Panache, Supercharge, and Tripe Impact Capital.
Robin Hood’s Catalyst 2026 cohort, a four-month accelerator for pre-seed social impact startups who are building technology that expands economic mobility — in areas like housing, education, health, financial access, and jobs. Apply by November 21 here.
The New York State Housing Finance Agency is seeking proposals from vendors to provide a technology solution to support MWBE/SDVOB compliance, goal setting, waiver tracking, reporting, and engagement across New York State. Submit your proposal by November 24 here.
Gutter Capital’s Elbow Grease, an eight-week accelerator for founders building applied AI in sectors that still run mostly offline like construction, real estate, energy, government, and small businesses. Apply by November 26 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.
Company Ventures’ Grand Central Tech Residency’s spring 2026 cohort, a 12-month residency program for founders and teams looking to build in-person in NYC. Apply here.
Company Ventures is hosting AI Review events, a year-long conversation series on the current and future state of AI. Submit your AI-related event for consideration here.
Union Square Ventures’ “usvwork” — a casual coworking day once a month for founders and builders in NYC. Apply here.
New York City Economic Development Corporation is re-launching the Greenlight Innovation Fund, a Request for Proposals to provide City capital funding for the development of facilities in New York City that support the Green Economy, Life Sciences, Advanced Technology and Creative Industries. Submit your proposals 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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