ClassPass rolls out new pricing structure
ClassPass’s current pricing structure doesn’t allow for more power users than folks who work out a few times each month. To get out ahead of that shift, ClassPass is now offering users a five-pack plan each month. The pricing on this five-pack varies by city based on the average cost of fitness classes in a given market, and rolled out nationwide on Wednesday. [TechCrunch]
NYC plans to replace Metrocards with phone chips
New York City is looking to finally replace its outdated, difficult-to-use Metrocard system for public transit. Right now, if you want to get on a bus or subway in the city you have to buy a flimsy Metrocard, load money onto it and then swipe it at exactly the right speed through the slot at the turnstile to make it read. The new system should work with sturdy, credit-card sized cards that you wave over a reader, as well as phone systems like Apple Pay and Android Pay. It's set to complete in 69 months — or by 2021. [Tech Insider]
Giant Williamsburg tech hub gets green light for development
This week, a 14-block area along the waterfront in North Williamsburg was approved for zoning changes which would relax restrictions on what can be built on the land. The impetus for the changes is a planned 480,000-square-foot office space called the Generator, which describes itself as “Brooklyn’s first holistically designed and fully integrated collaborative workspace and town center.” [Technical.ly Brooklyn]
Facebook Bets on Bots for Its Messenger App
On Tuesday, Facebook underlined the rise of bots at its annual F8 developer conference in San Francisco. Facebook said it was opening up Messenger, its own messaging app, so that any outside company could create a bot capable of interacting with people through the chat program. Facebook is kicking off the project with partners like Spring, 1-800-Flowers, a New York-based weather and travel app called Poncho and news partners such as CNN. [New York Times]
Mashable lays off staffers, shifts focus to video
Mashable Chief Executive Officer Pete Cashmore announced on Thursday that the online news website was reorganizing to focus on digital storytelling and television, a move that would result in the departure of "some" employees. A representative for the company declined to comment on the number of employees affected by the layoffs. [Fortune]
Venture capital funding stays strong in New York even as it slips everywhere else
The nationwide venture capital shakeout started in 2015 and carried over to the first quarter of 2016—except in New York, where spending spiked 76% compared to the previous quarter. That would be New York's biggest quarter since 2000. Nationwide, VC spending totaled $14.8 billion in the January through March period—a 19 percent drop from the year-ago period, albeit a 6 percent bump over the prior quarter. [Crain's New York]
Tech titans bring specialized classes to inner city schools
New York City’s public schools are about to get a dose of business smarts, Silicon Valley style. Build — a nonprofit education group whose backers include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, GoPro boss Nick Woodman and LinkedIn’s billionaire founder Reid Hoffman — will launch entrepreneurship classes this fall at inner-city high schools in New York City. [New York Post]
Ashton Kutcher-backed startup partners with major New York health system
Pager, the doctor-on-demand service backed by Ashton Kutcher, has partnered with Weill Cornell Medicine amid a shift in the Manhattan startup’s strategy. The firm will begin referring patients to the system’s specialists when treatment can’t be provided in a patient’s home or office. The deal gives Pager’s patients a straightforward path if their condition is best treated by a primary care doctor or specialist and allows the company to tap into Weill Cornell’s specialty-referral center, which the system uses internally to direct patients. [Crain's New York]
