Preview: Early voting, the PIT Pop-Up at the Oculus, calls for art + sessions, and hands-on data classes.
This weekend marks the start of early voting, and on Monday, we’ll welcome you into a temporary storefront where public-interest technology comes to life. We’re heading into 2026 with hope, optimism, and plenty of ways to plug in.
Come experiment with us — For two weeks in the Oculus, CUNY Public Interest Technology Lab will host conversations, workshops, demos, and games that ask how tech, data, and design can move us toward a more just city. Join us at https://nycpitpopup.org/ and come back the day after the election for a Tech for Us documentary screening and talk: https://www.beta.nyc/event/tech-for-us/
We also need your creativity. Data Through Design is commissioning artworks, and Open Data Week is seeking interactive sessions. Propose something that brings people together to learn, build, and imagine.
- Data Through Design deadline: Nov 2 — https://datathroughdesign.com/
- Open Data Week deadline: Dec 15 — https://opendataweek.nyc/
Prefer to learn by doing? Sign up for our Open Data or Mapping the Public Realm classes. As new members of the Play Fair Coalition, we’re doubling down on great public spaces, and on the shared stewardship of the municipal data that shapes them.
- Classes: https://www.beta.nyc/events/
- Play Fair: https://www.ny4p.org/what-we-do/play-fair
Two pieces resonated with me this week: Alan Greenblatt’s reflection on editorial independence in POLITICO and Anna Kodé’s history of the NYC bench in The New York Times. They cut to the heart of our work: public information and public space.
- Greenblatt: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/10/22/alan-greenblatt-quit-governing-censorship-00617039
- Kodé: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/nyregion/nyc-benches.html
We owe each other a city where everyone can find peace, safety, and services. If the largest, wealthiest city in the world can’t care for its neighbors, what does that say about our collective humanity?
See you next week,
Noel Hidalgo
This Week’s Civic Tech Actions ✅
Upcoming Events with BetaNYC 🎊
- October 27 to November 6 NYC PIT Pop Up at The Oculus
- October 27 at 2 pm “Climate Day” – Lab Flood by BetaNYC
- November 1 “BetaNYC Day” – Mapping the Future of the Oculus by BetaNYC
- November 5 at 5 pm “Tech for Us”: a film screening and conversation with local tech leaders
- November 15 at 10:30 am Mapping for Equity: Mapping NYC’s Public Amenities in NYC Council District 36 with BetaNYC & The Better Block Project
- November 21 at 12 pm Discovering NYC Open Data
- December 15 at 11:59 pm School of Data and Open Data Week 2026 Call for Proposals are due!
Election Corner 2025 🗳️
- It’s time to vote, NYC! THE CITY’s NYC election 2025 guide rounds up key dates, how to vote, and mayoral coverage for New Yorkers.
- Watch the final face-off: catch the last NYC mayoral debate and see where the candidates stand on key issues.
- Tech plan debut: In the waning days of the Mayoral campaign, independent mayoral candidate and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has rolled out his tech innovation plan. Annie McDonough goes in-depth with Noel Hidalgo and an anonymous former city official to review the plan.
- Follow the NYC Council Speaker chessboard: about 30 NYC Council members held a private meeting as names surface for the next NYC Council Speaker—here’s who’s in the mix.
- Peek inside the Manhattan DA race. Gothamist explains why the Manhattan DA contest matters, and why it’s been undercovered.
- Mount Van Hoevenberg on the ballots: Gothamist breaks down why New Yorkers are voting on a sports complex expansion that already happened.
- What does Dominion’s sale mean? NPR’s politics team parses how the voting-machine shake-up might ripple into future elections.
This Week’s Media Watchlist 🎥
- Outsmart algorithms with your resume: TED Radio Hour covers how AI is screening your resume. Here’s how to make it past the bots.
- Laugh (then wince) at AI: the Daily Show, yes, that one, looks at the threat and promise of artificial intelligence.
- Rezoning and the housing crisis: two decades after Greenpoint’s rezoning, WNYC/Gothamist revisits what went wrong, and what NYC’s next mayor should change.
- NYC Digital Inclusion Week recap: StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast spotlights NYC’s equity work—from Big Apple Connect to the city’s digital roadmap.
- AI and the Search for Truth: How can AI help us navigate an increasingly complex information ecosystem? The Siegel Family Endowment discusses data gaps, distrust, and building better information pathways.
Toolkit Spotlight 🛠️
- New app for NYC bike riders! NYC Bikeshare Companion, a new app from Jamie Pinheiro, tracks real-time NYC bike-share data.
- Imagine a dating app, but for the Mayoral race. palumba.nyc is an app that lets you select your policy preferences, and it rates your alignment with the candidates. Fun and cool!!
- Flag federal actions with this form. The Office of the New York State Attorney General’s Federal Action Reporting Form lets you report federal government actions affecting New Yorkers. (NOTE: this is not legal advice or a lawsuit.)
- Vehicles miles on the rise: Streetsblog highlights a report showing that NYC vehicle miles traveled (VMT) increased by 16% between 2005 and 2023, even though the city’s population rose only 1.4 percent in that period.
Artificial Intelligence Roundup 🤖
- Amazon Web Services investments: How much do you think Anthropoc and Cursor are spending on AWS? Ben Werdmuller has some estimates.
- Wikipedia’s traffic squeeze: 404 Media reports that Wikipedia is losing human visitors due to AI, putting content curation and maintenance at risk. (Paywall)
- A week with your AI “friend.” The Guardian’s first-person test drive gets unsettling and addresses why anthropomorphic chat apps can spark real emotions.
- Deepfakes hit democracy (again). A deepfake video of an Irish presidential candidate forced platform takedowns and official warnings mid-campaign.
Data Privacy Watch 🔐
- Data mishandling fears: TechPolicy.Press reports that lawmakers in Congress and at the state level are now calling out government data grabs, renewing calls for stronger privacy laws.
Jobs Alert and Announcements 💼
- Basta is searching for a Staff Engineer (Frontend) and a Data Analytics Manager.
- The Center for Health Equity & Community Wellness (CHECW) is seeking a Chronic Disease Data Analyst, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention.
- The Dept. of Sociology at the City College of New York is hiring a Spring 2026 adjunct instructor.
- The Empire State Development is searching for a Program Manager, ConnectALL.
- Harlem Children’s Zone is seeking a Program Director (Community Engagement & Initiatives).
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is hiring a Director, AI Opportunity.
- The NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ (DCAS) applications for the New York City Urban Fellows are now open.
- The NYC Department of Finance is recruiting a GIS Lead Specialist.
- The New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development is hiring a Director, Fair Housing Policy & Investments, and a Deputy Director, Fair Housing Policy & Investments.
- The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) is recruiting a Director, 311 Communications & Agency Relations.
- The New York State Education Department is hiring an Information Technology Specialist 2 (Programming).
- The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is seeking a Full Stack Developer.
- Stony Brook University is hiring an Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Data Science (DAS).
- Uncommon Schools is recruiting a Director of Operations Fellow.
- Weill Cornell Medicine Biostatistics is accepting applications for their summer 2026 internship program.
Upcoming Events 📅
Note: All times are listed in EDT
- October 28 at 9 am City & State’s Transportation in NY Summit 2025
- October 29 at 3 pm RxT: Inside AI – Navigating Models, Ethics and Power
- October 29 at 6:30 pm Understanding AI with Data & Society | Reorienting AI for the Public Interest
- October 30 at 7 am Building people-centred cities with standards
- October 30 at 7 pm Climate Pints Fall Gathering
- November 5 at 9 am New York City’s Department of Design and Construction’s Virtual Hiring Fair
- November 11 at 10 am Urban Tech Summit 2025 – Adaptive Intelligence: Activating Urban AI
- November 13 at 9 am InnerSource Summit 2025
- November 14-16 Information+ 2025
- November 20 at 8 am PostGIS Day 2025
- November 20 at 6:30 pm Understanding AI with Data & Society | Standing Up for Human Value in the AI Economy
Support BetaNYC Today! 💗
Imagine a city where anyone can find, understand, and use public data to improve their neighborhoods. That’s the NYC BetaNYC works for—where transparency leads to trust and better public services.
Support our work today at beta.nyc/donate.
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Take care of each other, and have a great weekend!