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Title card for a weekly civic tech newsletter. A blue-tinted photo of six adults smiling in front of a city skyline fills the background. Large white text at the top says, “This week in NYC’s #CivicTech Week 45 of 2025.” A pale blue box across the bottom lists bullet points: “Eight ways for Mayor-elect to improve NYC #govtech!,” “Apply to work for the next Administration,” “Food assistance resources,” “Reflections on the PIT Pop Up,” “Event – Reimagining CUNY’s Civic Future,” and “14 employment opportunities!”

This week in NYC’s #CivicTech – November 7, 2025

Noel Hidalgo

Congratulations, Mayor-Elect Mamdani,

Public interest technology is solidarity in action. No one does this work alone; when our mission and tools are aligned, we move forward together.

Our core values—connection, learning, innovation, and creativity—shape our programs, analysis, tools, curriculum, and events.

We share your optimism, faith, and love for this city. 

Our work at BetaNYC has always centered on optimism, faith, truth, and service. Never have we shied away from the intersectional nature of technology, society, and service delivery. To build technology for the public interest, we must center equality, inclusion, harm reduction, and restorative justice. We know you understand these values. 

To enact the campaign promises you’ve outlined, you will need talented service designers, technologists, and analysts drawn from the full diversity of New York. We need digital services to work for people, wherever they are, whenever they need them, and regardless of the platform.

Second, we need an Office of Technology and Innovation that truly embraces technology and innovation. We need a CTO who can collaborate with civic technologists, coordinate across agencies, foster competition within the industry, and balance priorities effectively. We need a CTO who loves New York, its civil servants, and is willing to break institutional silos.

Third, you will need to build up the existing NYC Digital Services team and hire public interest technology leaders with a focus on service design. Putting people first is how you maximize every dollar spent on talent, code, and infrastructure.

Fundamentally, we need government technology services and policies to work for the people who need them the most. And sometimes, the needs of the few will outweigh the needs of the many. Modernizing procurement, insourcing talent and code, while institutionalizing service design practices, will ensure your policies are implemented appropriately.

Your administration will need clean, interoperable data. You will need simple interfaces to collect that data. You are blessed with the nation’s best municipal data operations. These practices and teams need continuous investment. We invite you to join us in March for NYC Open Data Week and NYC School of Data.

NYC 311 is a powerful tool for breaking down agency silos and standardizing the flow of information across agencies. When you spoke to Businessweek about making forms better, this is the work.

Every “tech” dollar should build local capacity. We need to see our municipal gov-tech stack adopt secure, reusable code. Establishing an open-source programs office while modernizing the application development and cybersecurity teams will create a lasting impact. Let us hold our code to the same standards as we hold our employees.

We need an administration that cares about digital privacy, fights for it, and implements the Internet Master Plan.

We need digital equity to mean more than pipes. We need bridges for digital and data literacy to coexist within communities and across multiple age groups. We need a true-biz conversation on how artificial intelligence can help, AND how it is hurting. 

Finally, our CUNY students have much to offer this administration and our technology and data ecosystem. We have proposed a two-year apprenticeship program in public interest technology to train students in AI, data collection and analysis, GIS, and community organizing. YES, community organizing!

Today, the city lacks clean, consistent data on basic public-realm assets, including benches, bike racks, curb cuts, lamp posts, crosswalks, and trash cans. The conditions of pedestrian and bike paths are only known to those who traverse them. BetaNYC has a decade of experience teaching CUNY students and neighbors to collect this data while building digital and data literacy. Let us put this capacity to work!

New Yorkers deserve services that are simple, secure, and equitable. We are excited to build with you.

PS – We’re glad to see you’re using Airtable to collect resumes!

Noel Hidalgo, Executive Director of BetaNYC

TL;DR — Mayor-Elect Mamdani, We’re here to help you build digital services with your neighbors, empower OTI, grow NYC Digital Service, modernize 311 and data plumbing, protect privacy, invest in digital equity and literacy, and launch a CUNY public-interest tech apprenticeship!!

In the meantime, here are eight ways to make gov tech and innovation work for your administration.

  1. Empower OTI with a clear mandate around improving digital service delivery across agencies.
  2. Scale NYC Digital Service and prioritize service design roles embedded with line agencies.
  3. Modernize 311 as the city’s front door; unify intake, status, and feedback loops.
  4. Standardize data plumbing (shared schemas, APIs, interoperability, and service levels).
  5. Stand up an Open Source Program Office and adopt secure, reusable code citywide.
  6. Enforce privacy-by-design and advance the Internet Master Plan to close access gaps.
  7. Fund digital and data literacy partnerships with community groups across age groups.
  8. Launch a CUNY PIT Apprenticeship (2-year) focused on AI, GIS, community data, and service delivery.

What’s New at BetaNYC? 🚀

Flyer with a blue megaphone icon and bold headline: “Work in tech? Help shape the future of the field.” Subtext: “Your input helps shape NYC’s tech workforce!” Button reads “Take our survey” with link beta.nyc/pit-wfd on a white and blue layout.
Digital flyer for NYC School of Data 2026. On a white background, large stacked text in blue and orange reads “CALL CALL FOR FOR PROPOSALS PROPOSALS.” To the right is an orange-and-blue megaphone with “NYC School of Data” written on it and sound lines coming out. Below, icons highlight event details: a calendar icon next to “Saturday, March 28, 2026” and a location pin next to “CUNY School of Law.” Along the bottom, small text says “Learn more at schoolofdata.nyc,” with the NYC School of Data 2026 and BetaNYC logos.

ICYMI, read Gabby’s recap of our Roosevelt Island Open Data Ambassadors class and Duncan’s reflection on the Open Data Week Fall Happy Hour, where the momentum for 2026 is already building.

Upcoming Events with BetaNYC 🎊

Election Corner 2025 🗳️

  • Zoom in on how NYC voted. This election results recap breaks down the Mamdani–Cuomo–Sliwa race with maps and district-level patterns to show who won where and by how much.
  • Get hands-on with the election maps. CUNY’s Center for Urban Research interactive election map lets you toggle years, income, race, age, Council districts (and more!) to explore turnout and coalition geography.
  • Decode the housing questions results. THE CITY walks through the affordable housing ballot measures—what each one does, who supports or opposes them, and how they might change development and tenant protections.
  • Clarify what happened with Question 6. Kevin Morris’s Bluesky post challenges the narrative about on-cycle elections, noting that conservative precincts actually voted against the proposal at the highest rates.
  • Read the vibes behind the returns. This New York Groove piece pulls out seven big takeaways from Mamdani’s win, from subway lines and renter density to watch parties, youth turnout, and what the maps say about the city’s future.
  • See what it takes to vote from Rikers. Hell Gate follows volunteers and incarcerated New Yorkers as they navigate ID checks, absentee ballot forms, and bureaucracy to ensure that people in city jails can still cast a ballot. (Paywall)
  • Revisit what the debate missed. Rosetta Carrington Lue’s LinkedIn essay argues that NYC’s mayoral debate barely touched 311 and city service delivery, and makes the case for why constituent experience should be front and center.
  • Ride along with the Next Mayor of NYC: THE CITY’s Q&A digs into Mamdani’s plans for City Hall, his relationship to the subway system, and how he’s thinking about transit, housing, and safety as governing priorities.
  • Read an open letter to the new mayor. Tech Mayor NYC’s “Dear Zohran” lays out a vision for NYC to build more digital services in-house—citing USDS, 18F, and UK GDS as models—and urges a people-first government tech team at City Hall.
  • Meet “the Internet’s Mayor.” WIRED’s long-form interview with Mamdani examines the social media strategy that fueled his rise, his relationship with Big Tech, and how he believes technology should (and shouldn’t) shape democracy. (Paywall)
  • Sketch a people-first tech agenda. TechPolicy.Press argues that Mayor-elect Mamdani can turn campaign promises into a tech program centered on a digital sanctuary from ICE, anti-surveillance measures, fair pricing, and robust public tech infrastructure.
  • Map out a governing tech playbook. Anthony Townsend’s Vital City essay lays out how Mayor-elect Mamdani could reboot stalled digital equity projects, borrow proven tools from other cities, and use AI, data standards, and more innovative procurement to make tech work for working-class New Yorkers.

This Week’s Media Watchlist 🎥

  • Take a design field trip to the PIT Lab. Jess Klein’s essay weaves a visit to the NYC PIT Lab pop-up, a beloved 2-XL toy robot, and three design lessons into a reflection on how public interest tech can feel playful, relational, and rooted in care.
  • Track how a shutdown hits SNAP. THE CITY explains how the federal government shutdown and SNAP payment freeze threaten food benefits for New Yorkers and what that means for already-strained households.
  • Surge in NYC food pantry visits: Gothamist reports from food pantries where visits are surging as SNAP payments are frozen, capturing how lines, uncertainty, and fear are growing day by day.

Toolkit Spotlight 🛠️

  • Signal-boost a new food tech experiment. Cara Eckholm’s LinkedIn post spotlights NYC’s PantryLink Challenge and why technologists and service providers should pitch models for voucher or credit-based food assistance.
  • Check the grades on city services. Jehiah’s Bluesky post announces an updated 311 Report Card methodology that boosts scores for many agencies and offers a fresh perspective on how quickly and fairly complaints are handled.

Artificial Intelligence Roundup 🤖

  • Look ahead to an AI-powered classroom. Center for an Urban Future’s report outlines how NYC can prepare every student for an AI-shaped economy by training thousands of teachers in digital and computational literacy, from K–12 through CUNY.
  • Follow the money into AI’s engine rooms. The Guardian’s deep dive tracks a $3 trillion global data centre building spree for AI, raising questions about hype, debt, and whether many of these mega-projects will ever be fully built or used.

Data Privacy Watch 🔐

  • Peek at a new face-scanning tool in police hands. 404 Media reveals that DHS has rolled out “Mobile Identify,” a facial-recognition app for local cops working with ICE, and unpacks what that means for immigration enforcement and civil liberties. (Paywall)

Jobs Alert and Announcements 💼 

Upcoming Events 📅

Note: All times are listed in EDT

Support BetaNYC Today! 💗

We’re training the next generation of public interest technologists, and helping today’s changemakers use data responsibly. Your support expands mentorships, curricula, and pathways into civic tech careers.

Invest in the future of public interest technology at beta.nyc/donate. 

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