Submit a RADAR
Donate
Graphic for ‘This week in NYC’s #CivicTech – Week 49 of 2025’ showing a group of smiling BetaNYC staff and volunteers in blue shirts behind a white text box that lists: ‘Suggest civic tech policy ideas to the incoming administration!, Our statements on the MTA’s Capital Program Dashboard and Intro 1235-A of 2025, Paying tribute to Alice Wong, Job openings across NYC elected offices!!’

This week in NYC’s #CivicTech – December 5, 2025

Gabby Langston

Happy End of the Year Holidays,

First, it is an honor to see so many of you share your salutations and congratulations to be on Mayor-Elect Mamdani’s Transition Subcommittee on Technology. I hope I can faithfully represent all of our collective ideas.

Four years ago, I was part of the 800 people who served on Mayor-Elect Eric Adams’ transition team. This week, I was reviewing those documents and reflecting on how much time we spent proposing good ideas only to be met with a vendor’s take.

For Mayor-Elect Mamdani, there are just 400 of us. It was an absolute delight to walk into El Museo del Barrio and see so many familiar faces and allies. I am really hopeful about the 2025 transition team and subcommittees—so many smart, dedicated people who know the City’s problems intimately.

Truly, the City’s karass.

So what does a transition team do? 

Well, both Hell Gate and FAQ NYC have interesting takes. 

Speculation aside, our job is to provide recommendations to the incoming administration and help highlight qualified candidates.

At this time, Mayor-Elect Mamdani and his team are looking for great policy ideas. While there continues to be a focus on affordability, universal childcare, housing, and fast and free buses, they are looking for concrete ideas that can bring “excellence to government.”

A few weeks ago, we published eight ideas and added a spreadsheet at the bottom of the other community ideas. If you want to add your voice to the next administration’s public interest tech / government tech agenda, the door is open. Send us an email at the_message@beta.nyc, and let us know if you would like your ideas to be made public. 

Seriously. 

Write it down and be as thoughtful as possible. Then, send it to me or anyone you know on a transition subcommittee. Right now, our task is to gather your ideas and share them with the transition team.

Second, if you want to work for the incoming administration, APPLY! While over 70,000 have sent in their resumes, the Mayor-Elect is looking for the best and brightest who want to bring their elegance to City Government. Also, try researching what jobs are in the city.

Also, it wouldn’t hurt to send a cover letter and resume to a member of the transition sub-committees. Other people are doing it, and you shouldn’t hold back. Just know we’re all doing our best to keep up with everyone’s enthusiasm.

Palante!

Noel Hidalgo, noel@beta.nyc

Support BetaNYC Today! 💗

If you’ve ever found a job, event, or resource through our weekly newsletter, this message is for you. 

In 2025, over 5,300 people subscribed and nearly 2,000 readers tuned in each week to stay on top of civic tech news, tools, and opportunities. This work is powered by a small but mighty team and by supporters like you. 

Please consider becoming a sustaining donor to help us keep this information free and accessible at https://beta.nyc/donate. If giving isn’t possible right now, sharing our campaign is another powerful way to support.

Donation graphic on a light peach background. Three people appear inside browser windows, each holding large blue hearts toward an open box in the center. Below, the blue BetaNYC logo and bold text read: “BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR TO FUEL OUR WORK THROUGH 2026.” A blue button says “DONATE NOW” above the link “beta.nyc/donate,” with scattered blue heart icons around the design.

What’s New at BetaNYC? 🚀

  • Calling all elected offices! Is your office hiring for roles in policy, tech, data, or constituent services? Share your job postings with us so we can spotlight them to our civic tech and public interest network.
  • A new way of tracking investments. Andrew’s statement on the MTA’s new Capital Program Dashboard explains how the revamped tool lets New Yorkers track major transit investments, from accessibility upgrades to congestion pricing funded projects. Check it out!
  • FOIL is finally getting an upgrade! Noel’s statement on Intro 1235-A of 2025 explains how a new Council bill will modernize NYC’s public records system, requiring agencies to use the OpenRecords portal and making released documents searchable for everyone.
  • NYC School of Data turns TEN in March 2026, and we’re looking for sponsors to help us grow into an even more accessible, community-driven conference. If you or someone in your network can sponsor, please send them our way!
Dark blue NYC School of Data 2026 graphic with an orange banner reading “NYC School of Data 2026” and the BetaNYC logo at the top. Large white text says “CALL FOR SPONSORS” next to an orange megaphone icon. Below, icons highlight event details: Saturday, March 28, 2026 at CUNY School of Law, 2 Ct Square W, Long Island City, NY 11101, with contact email schoolofdata@beta.nyc and link beta.nyc/SoData26-Sponsor.

Upcoming Events with BetaNYC 🎊

Election Corner 2025 🗳️

  • Meet the 400+ people shaping Mayor-elect Mamdani’s transition team. Bobby Cuza breaks down who’s on the mayor-elect’s transition committees and how they’ll drive his affordability agenda.
  • Go straight to the source on the transition. Mayor-elect Mamdani’s press release details the 17 transition committees, their focus areas (housing, childcare, transit, worker justice, tech, etc.), and the leaders behind them.
  • Mayor-elect Mamdani on Inside City Hall. In an extensive interview, the mayor-elect talked with Errol Louis about the White House meeting, housing, National Guard attacks, and whether he’ll keep the current schools chancellor.
  • How your neighborhood voted on housing. Patrick Spauster discusses the results of NYC’s housing ballot measures, showing where voters embraced or resisted zoning changes and what that means for building more homes.
  • What a 21st-century judiciary should look like. Scrutinize and Reinvent Albany lay out a blueprint for democratizing New York’s judicial appointments—more transparency, community power, and accountability in who becomes a judge.

This Week’s Media Watchlist 🎥

  • Honoring Alice Wong, oracle of disability justice. Rebecca Cokley remembers Wong’s visionary advocacy, from the Disability Visibility Project to #CripTheVote, and calls on readers to carry her fight for access and autonomy forward.
  • Turn administrative tasks into a party. Don Moynihan and Pamela Herd use “administrative burden parties” as a jumping-off point to unpack how paperwork and red tape keep people from accessing public benefits.
  • Legacy of the abolished DOGE. Timothy Noah offers a rundown of an agency that didn’t exist, and its everlasting damage.
  • An exit interview with DOGE. Alexandra Petri runs a satirical Q&A with DOGE itself, using humor to probe what we actually got out of this era of meme-ified politics and finance. (Paywall)
  • Betting on cross-sector power. A City & State op-ed from Assembly Member Tony Simone makes the case that New York’s next chapter depends on tighter collaboration among business, civic, and academic institutions to drive inclusive growth and innovation.
  • Robert Moses may be coming to Netflix. Alex Weprin previews a new series adapting The Power Broker, revisiting how Moses reshaped NYC through highways and displacement. (Paywall)

Toolkit Spotlight 🛠️

  • Lock up those bikes, and see how the plan came together. These pieces break down NYC’s new secure bike parking program and the debate around how the city selected its vendor.
  • Looking for a city job? Reuven Blau explains how to navigate civil service exams and what to expect.
  • There’s a new app for noise. NYC DEP unveiled a new mobile app, NYC Noise, that translates sound measurements into easy-to-read noise maps so New Yorkers can better understand and report city noise.
  • Inside NYC’s civil service pipeline. Tal Roded highlights the flaws in NYC’s civil service system and offers potential solutions to address the ongoing crisis.

Artificial Intelligence Roundup 🤖

  • NYC’s taking another swing at AI. Celia Bernhardt covers the NYC Council’s new GUARD Act, which creates an Office of Algorithmic Accountability to review, regulate, and publicly list AI tools used by city agencies.
  • How do American political parties feel about AI? David Greenfield argues that both parties see AI as a threat (to speech, jobs, and power) and sketches out potential regulations, such as banning deepfake impersonation. (Paywall)

Data Privacy Watch 🔐

  • Building a wall of cameras at the city line. Elizabeth Kim reports on Nassau County’s plan for a border of license-plate readers and facial recognition aimed at “protecting” the suburbs from Mayor-elect Mamdani’s NYC.
  • “Genesis” or “Exodus”? Beth Simone Noveck dissects the White House’s new national AI platform, Genesis Mission, arguing it looks less like meaningful engagement and more like pushing people out of real decision-making.

Jobs Alert and Announcements 💼 

Upcoming Events 📅

Note: All times are listed in ET

Want to sponsor this newsletter or be featured in future ones? Share your community resources, projects, events, and anything else happening so we can feature them in future posts. 

What did you think of today’s newsletter? We’d love to hear your feedback and ideas. Reply to this message.

Did a friend forward this to you? There are three ways you can subscribe to our newsletter. Read it on our website, receive it via email, or via LinkedIn!

Take care of each other, and have a great weekend!