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This week in NYC’s #CivicTech – September 4, 2026
On September 2, New York City paused student-facing generative AI for nearly 600,000 public school students, 2-K through eighth grade, for one year. Companion chatbots are banned in every grade, K through 12, with no exemption — the widest part of the policy and the least discussed.
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NYC’s DOE AI Ban? Here Is What the Policy Actually Says.
On September 2, New York City paused generative AI for nearly 600,000 public school students. We read the announcement, the press conference transcript, the March guidance that preceded it, and the parent organizing that forced it — then went back through nearly 10 years of our own conversations, because we have been writing about automated…
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Re: Oversight hearing of Internet Master Plan and Resolution T2020-6730
Important quotes to note from the NYC Internet Master Plan: “The private market has failed to deliver the internet in a way that works for all New Yorkers. Citywide, 29% of households do not have a broadband subscription at home. The same percentage of households are without a mobile broadband connection.” “…more than 1.5 million…
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Making History – The First Hackathon Inside the historic New York City Hall
In partnership with the Department of Education’s Computer Science for All and NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and Technology Committee Chair Council Member Peter Koo, BetaNYC co-hosted 130 students and 30 teachers in the City’s historic Council Chambers for the finale of the second annual Hack League. These Twenty-eight teams, from all five boroughs, used…
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Nerd Alert — Job Posting — Special Events Project Manager
BetaNYC is New York City’s civic technology, open data, and civic design community. Starting as a meetup in 2009, it has since grown to be a non-profit organization that hosts events, facilitates policy change, demystifies big ideas, and empowers a new generation of civic hackers. In a strategic partnership with the Manhattan Borough President Gale…
