LOCAL A3

FEBRUARY 7–13, 2013

SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES tecPublic Advocate h contributions

.*$$2%(" &2 -&+2*"+2+'2 *

t +!%2-#&" t &"$2)-*'& t t $820,008 $759,711 t t t t t t t t $79,356 t ,","2%+ t t 75 donors in the t $465,978 Reshma Saujani, candidate for City public advocate, at work with her dog Stanley. t t tech industry t Looking to Write the Code 10.4% of total for Politicians donations -$"2 -&2%,!"& TECH CONTINUED FROM A1 which is now seen as one of the taught Microsoft Word—they busiest hubs in the nation, second should be taught computer sci- For every candidate “By doing our part to ensure the only to Silicon Valley. ence, so they’re put on the path to 1 gets candidates are well-informed and While it’s hard to tell if the tech one of these jobs making $88,000 $ $6 are committed to implementing community made the difference a year,” said Saujani in an inter- donated of public funds sound policies, we’ll have played a in getting Bloomberg elected three view. “So we gotta teach our kids (capped at $1,050) significant role in helping make a times, “there’s an extent that he how to code.” better NYC for everyone for a long gets their universe,” said Birdsell. A recent win for the tech indus- time to come,” Jessica Lawrence, Bloomberg’s nurturing of the try, helped by Bloomberg, was $4 million = campaign spending limit for Public Advocate managing director of the meetup, industry, including establishing the opening of a new software 55% cap on matching funds of the spending limit ($2.2 million) wrote in the online missive. incubators and co-working spaces engineering, design, and devel- People in the tech world have to help start-ups grow, has bol- opment high school near Union already been making an impact stered the city’s economy. Square, the Academy for Software in the race for public advocate, the More than 1,000 high-tech Engineering. second highest office in the city. startups have cropped up in the The second most popular idea '(2,!2'&,*"-,'*+2,'2$"& 2-$"2 .',2&",+ Campaign finance records city since 2005, according to a on the meetup’s portal is making show people in the tech commu- report by the Center for an Urban “the most wired nity overwhelmingly contribut- Future. city on Earth” by providing New Sophie Stenbeck, president, !22-& 2  ing to candidate Reshma Saujani, Yorkers with “access to the fastest -#&" Alexis Maybank, founder/chief strategy officer, "$,2*'-( 2 accounting for more than 10 per- broadband networks at the lowest David Tisch, managing partner, !2 '0*'-( 2  cent of the $759,711 she has raised. More tech-friendly cost.” That’s going to command atten- education and the Making the idea a reality will tion, said David Birdsell, dean “require real leadership from the )-*'& Brad Burnham, managing partner, &"'&2)-*2&,-*+ 2  of the Baruch College School of very top,” said Susan Crawford, Eugene Zagat, founder, '' $ 2 Public Affairs. “[It] is a powerful fastest broadband professor of law at the Benjamin argument for paying attention to system at a low N. Cardozo School of Law, and part someone’s issue positions.” of the mayor’s Council on Technol-

                %+ Gina Argento, principal, *'/12, + 2 More than 75 people in the cost. ogy and Innovation. industry, many of them execu- Right now access to fast broad- tives, have contributed to Saujani’s band is a problem for start-ups, campaign, some as little as $25, Further, $12 billion has been particularly in the outer boroughs, some the maximum $4,950. invested in nearly 1,000 New York and for the 2.2 million New York- The donors are interested in pro- City startups in the past five years, ers without high-speed Internet ducing policies favorable to the creating 21,000 jobs, according to access at home. tech sector, but personal connec- the website Entrepreneur, citing “That’s a digital divide issue,” said tions are also a strong factor. a recent survey by the New York Crawford. “It’s huge.” Joanne Wilson is a prominent Venture Capital Association. SPECIALIZING IN FINE investor in tech startups and also Tech’s Influence on Elections CHINESE PAINTINGS & WORKS OF ART runs a blog, Gotham Gal. Wilson What They Want Some candidates are already on has contributed $4,950 each to So what do people in the burgeon- board, like Benjamin Kallos, who Christine Quinn, a mayoral can- ing sector want? is running for City Council’s Upper didate; Daniel Squadron, a state Some have been angling for East Side 5th District. senator eyeing a run for public increased tech-friendly education, Kallos already advocates for tech- advocate; and Saujani. Wilson said including coding classes, both in friendly policies. He said the city she contributed money because grade schools and colleges—it’s needs to lessen its dependence on she likes the candidates, and they the most popular idea on the tech the real estate and finance indus- are interested in issues that are meetup’s online portal for policy tries, and focus more on the tech important for the city. discussions. sector. His suggestion, among oth- “If you can afford to give money Saujani, running for public ers, is to provide $50,000 micro- to the candidate of your choice, advocate, has garnered money seed grants for startups. you should, because that’s the only from the sector because she has So how big of a role will the tech way they’re going to get elected,” already been working to make sector have on the 2013 elections? she said. the city more tech-friendly with “Probably the biggest role it’s ever Her husband Fred Wilson, prin- her startup Girls Who Code, which had,” said Dawn Barber, cofounder cipal of the investment capital teaches teenage girls computer of the New York Tech Meetup, who firm Union Square Ventures, has programming. has contributed $250 to Saujani’s matched his wife’s contributions Compared to the overall median campaign. “I don’t know how big. to the candidates. wage of $45,000 in New York City, But it used to not be on everyone’s workers in the fields of science, agenda, and now it is on everyone’s Tech’s Growth in New York technology, engineering, and agenda. That’s a good thing.” Under Mayor , mathematics get $88,000 on aver- a tech entrepreneur himself, the age, says Saujani. Additional reporting by Amelia industry has taken off in the city, “Right now 9th graders are being Pang Chinese antiques wanted, especially painting, porcelain, NYC IN BRIEF jade, bronze, furniture etc. Collections purchased. NYPD Releases Stop-and- say it will not negotiate. Proposed Five Borough Chamber Alliance, Frisk Data changes to the contract relating to will advocate for small business seniority benefits, and the ability issues, including opposing any For the first time the NYPD has of drivers to keep their pay and legislation supporting paid sick publicly released a report detail- benefits when new companies leave, according to Crain’s New York. ing where and why stop, question, take over old contracts, have Small businesses have primarily and frisks happened during 2011. angered the bus driver’s union been represented by the Partner- In total, 685,724 stops were made and its members. Public Advo- ship for New York City, which in New York City. A quarter of all cate Bill de Blasio unveiled a letter includes many large businesses. stops were for suspected weapons Tuesday signed by 500 parents, possession. urging the mayor to return to the Styrofoam Ban Possible negotiating table. Gov. Cuomo Angling for A Styrofoam ban for all food- Columbus Avenue Bike service providers, including for Home Buyouts takeout food and drinks, is under Homes in areas deemed danger- Lane Extension Approved consideration by the city’s Sani- ous after Hurricane Sandy could Community Board 7 approved tation Department. Ron Gonen, be bought by the government, extensions Tuesday for the Colum- deputy commissioner for recy- with the lots being turned into bus Avenue bike lane, which cur- cling and sustainability, said he wetlands as a buffer zone against rently runs from 96th to 77th will propose the ban in legislation, future storms, according to a New streets. It will now go north to according to DNAinfo. York Times report. Aides to the 110th and south to 70th, with fur- governor presented the plan in ther examination of extending Gun Buyback in Brooklyn Washington late last week. The it further south after construc- plan proposes spending up to tion ends in the area. The lane is Councilwoman and $400 million in disaster relief aid expected to be completed by the Kings County District Attorney 40 W 25th St. Gallery 205 on the buyouts. end of 2013. Charles Hynes held a gun buyback New York, NY 10010 event in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, [email protected] Bus Strike Continues New Small Business Lobby- last weekend. The program netted www.chinese-culture-art.org 113 weapons, including revolvers, Scholar Under Pine Tree School bus drivers remain on ing Group Forms shotguns, and assault weapons, For Appointment Please Call 646-539-0523 strike and the city continues to A new group, a nonprofit arm of the according to a release.