Happy New Year! As we step into 2026, we’re excited to welcome a new chapter for New York City. With a new mayoral administration officially taking office, this year presents critical opportunities for collaboration, civic participation, and local impact. We extend our congratulations to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and look ahead with optimism about what’s possible when neighbors, communities, and public interest technologists work together.
This year is also a special one for our community: NYC School of Data will turn ten years old in March! Over the past decade, School of Data has helped thousands of New Yorkers use public information to understand and improve our city. Our early bird ticket sales and call for volunteers will launch in the coming weeks. In the meantime, join us next week at the Open Data Week Winter Meetup on Thursday, January 15. It’s a great opportunity to connect, learn more about upcoming programs, and celebrate with the community. Hope to see you there!
This moment also brings a timely opportunity to get involved locally. Community board applications are now open in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island (with Staten Island accepting applications year-round). Serving on a community board is one of the most direct ways to shape your neighborhood priorities, whether that’s housing, transportation, land use, or public space, and to make sure local voices are reflected in city decision-making. Applications for Manhattan and the Bronx are coming soon, so stay tuned!
In the months ahead, staying informed about what’s happening on the city, state and federal levels will help us understand how these decisions shape our communities and the issues we care about. We must continue supporting local initiatives, voting, and showing up for one another in small but meaningful ways. This newsletter will continue to highlight the people, projects, and ideas shaping civic life in our city.
Here’s to a new year of learning, listening, celebrating, and building together!
— Gabrielle Langston & Jazzy Smith
Support BetaNYC Today! 💗
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What’s New at BetaNYC? 🚀
Apply to your community boards! Applications for Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island are now open.
ICYMI, we had a milestone year with Mapping for Equity: Access matters. So we spent time mapping the amenities that help people move through public space. In 2025, we mapped 2,942 feet of accessible infrastructure, then wrote up the takeaways in our year-in-review.
Upcoming Events with BetaNYC 🎊
- January 15 at 5 pm Open Data Week Winter Meetup
- January 25 at 11 am Wikipedia Day NYC 2026
Election Corner 2025 🗳️
- Decoding references: Gothamist breaks down the cultural references woven into Mayor Mamdani’s inauguration speech. This is a good must read on how the Mayor rapped his speech.
- Last words and “booby traps”: Hell Gate examines last-minute moves by former Mayor Adams that could constrain or complicate Mayor Mamdani’s early agenda. (Paywall)
- Charter developments at the buzzer: Crain’s New York covers former Mayor Adams launching a charter revision commission late in his term.
- Eleven recommendations for the new administration: Vital City’s “Just Fix It” list offers concrete governance improvements for Mayor Mamdani’s first 100 days.
- Deleting tweets, but not history: City & State reports Mayor Mamdani’s plan to delete Adams-era posts from X, while noting they’ll still exist via government archiving. Here’s how to find the old messages.
- Warning labels for “addictive” social media: The Verge covers New York’s new law requiring warning labels, adding another front in the fight over teen safety and platform design.
This Week’s Media Watchlist 🎥
- Happy Birthday Congestion Pricing! Streetsblog rounds up the anniversary coverage and early “how it’s going” stats, plus the week’s other transit and street-safety headlines.
- Urbanism comfort-watch: THE CITY spotlights William H. Whyte’s classic lessons on why some public spaces thrive, paired with an unrestored version of the film to watch yourself.
Here’s what our very own Andrew Kittredge had to say: “The new restoration of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is a precious chance to see a wry, charming work of art and advocacy in the company of the public which it advocates for.”
- Cleaner air, measurable results: Cornell highlights new research linking congestion pricing to improved air quality in NYC and nearby suburbs.
- So what did Doge actually accomplish? The Guardian digs into the impact claims around the Doge effort and argues the record is still frustratingly unclear.
- A State innovation office enshrined into law: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced legislation establishing the New Jersey Innovation Authority, positioning it as modernization and efficiency infrastructure.
- Automated enforcement is spreading: Carscoops explains new California laws, including a work-zone pilot that can issue speeding citations via radar/laser systems with built-in review and appeals.
- What do readers actually click? Rebecca Heywood’s Public Sector Job Board looks back on their first full year on Substack, shares a 2025 retrospective and what it implies for civic-tech hiring in 2026.
- Civic Tech Field Guide’s year-end lookback: Matt Stempeck’s recap highlights what readers engaged with most over the year.
- A “most-read” time capsule for tech policy: Tech Policy Press rounds up the site’s top 30 pieces from 2025, useful for spotting what debates dominated the year.
Artificial Intelligence Roundup 🤖
- A new look at federal tech hiring: Reuters reports the federal administration’s plan to hire about 1,000 “Tech Force” specialists focused on AI and financial projects.
Data Privacy Watch 🔐
- Want to unbundle from US tech giants? Disconnect offers a practical, non-technical guide to alternatives for email, docs, maps, and more.
- Blockchain developments: The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation published a report on the responsible use of blockchain. It is notable as a government report from the largest municipal government in the United States, but its future is uncertain.
- Health data, immigration enforcement, and real consequences: Gothamist reports on a federal judge allowing Medicaid data-sharing with ICE, and why advocates say it could deter people from seeking care.
- Showing the receipts: 404 Media publishes the agreement behind the Medicaid-data sharing story, so readers can see what’s actually in writing. (Paywall)
- Neighborhood-scale phone tracking: 404 Media details ICE’s newly purchased surveillance tools and how they’re described as working, including warrantless phone tracking claims. (Paywall)
Jobs Alert and Announcements 💼
- Coding it Forward’s application for their 2026 Summer Fellowship is open until January 19.
- The Congress for the New Urbanism is recruiting a Membership Manager.
- CUNY New York College of Technology is seeking a Technical Career Coach, Tech Talent Pipeline Residency.
- The Department of City Planning (DCP) is searching for an Associate Demographic Scientist.
- The Door is hiring a Data & Evaluation Manager for Career and Education.
- Girls Who Code’s application for the Pathways program is now open (early deadline is February 25).
- The MTA is seeking a Director, Product Development.
- The NYC Campaign Finance Board is searching for an Innovation & Implementation Manager.
- The NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) is recruiting a Director of System Integration.
- The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is seeking a Senior Director Corporate Governance.
- The New York Public Library is hiring a Lead, Digital Strategic Initiatives, Technical Project Manager, Institutional Services, Senior Data Analyst, Data Platforms & Access – Digital and Business Analyst, Data Platforms & Access – Digital.
- PyData NYC is seeking people interested in joining the PyData NYC 2026 Organizing Committee.
Upcoming Events 📅
Note: All times are listed in ET
- January 13 at 1 pm Redrawing the Lines that Divide Our Students: Data and Tools for Better, Fairer School District Boundaries
- January 13 at 6 pm How We Made nyc.gov Easier for Everyone
- January 15 at 3:30 pm Tech Ladies – The Loop: Virtual Community Meet Up – Jan
- January 16 at 9 am TechWalk | NYC, 1/16
- January 28 at 6:30 pm CUSP x Transit Techies | Colin Miller (Subway Builder) & Greg Feliu (The Busiest Subway Lines in NYC, Ranked)
- January 27 at 2 pm Telling Public Stories with Data
- January 29 at 1 pm Slow Violence, Fast Tech: Reclaiming AI for Civil and Human Rights
- February 18 at 10 am The Next Wave Black History Month Summit
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Happy New Year! Take care of each other, and have a great weekend!