Happy Lunar / Lunisolar New Year! How are you? We too are working through all the things day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second. Hopefully, you are getting a few minutes in the sun and trying to focus on positive moments. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old son who requires respiratory therapy twice a day. Right now, his favorite video is “Belly Breathe” by Common, Colbie, and Elmo. I watch this video two or three times a day, and I think it is my son’s subconscious way of reminding us to take in the things we can change and release the things we can’t. This week was Angela Davis’ birthday, who said, “I am no longer accepting the things I can not change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” Thank you Devon Blow, for this beautiful reminder.
Second, we want to share the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. BetaNYC firmly believes that programs supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility improve our government workforce and aid in making government more innovative and responsive to the needs of everyone in our communities. Also, our work ain’t solely done by nerds. It takes a village to take care of a village. We join our colleagues at the Alliance of Civic Technologists and Technologists for the Public Good to state that better solutions come from embracing diversity, not excluding it.
This week, we are reminding you of your power to shape this city and shining a light on ways you can make a difference in your neighborhood. Every Borough President has published their ONLINE community board application form! (By the way, this is something we fought for in 2018 through a Charter Revision Commission.) Applications are open just as we segue into citywide primary races and Community and Citywide Education Council Elections! Please, do not get distracted by our ability to make a change in OUR City!
Community board applications are now open for The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and are open year-round in Staten Island. If you need a refresher on the process, catch last year’s primer from THE CITY. If you are a current Community Board Member, let us know! Please email the_message@beta.nyc. We would love for you to share why our Public Interest Tech, Open Data, and Service Design communities should care and get involved.
If you want to have a hand in the electoral process, you have until February 14 to change your party identification, even though the primary isn’t until June. This will allow you to participate in the major-party nominations for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, City Council, and more. Given the city’s political landscape, the primary is often the deciding factor in who ultimately takes office. If you are not a part of that decision and have the ability to participate, you are giving away a huge part of your say in the leadership. Our friends at THE CITY have more details on how to ensure you are registered with a party.
Finally, if you’re passionate about our public education system, Community and Citywide Education Council Elections (CEC) applications are open! If you need a rundown, read Chalkbeat NY’s deep dive on how to get involved.
We hope to see you at tonight’s Open Data Week Winter Meetup. Sending you love and light on our collective journey!
We are in this together.
Noel Hidalgo, with assistance from Gabrielle Langston
Community News / Resources 
- Kudos to the NYC and metro area teams selected in the The GovTech 100 (Corporations) – Government Technology
- You have a right to an affordable internet! ISP failed to comply with New York’s $15 broadband law—until Ars got involved – Jon Brodkin
- Kudos to our old friends!!! Democracy Works staffers approve first labor contract with News Media Guild – News Media Guild
- Still useful information for local educators! U.S. Department of Education’s AI Toolkit and Nondiscrimination Resources Provides Lasting Guidance for Educators on AI and Civil Rights – Kristin Woelfel
- Authoritarian propaganda baked into the new AI model — We tried out DeepSeek. It worked well, until we asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan – Donna Lu
- DeepSeek seems to have a serious privacy issue — What DeepSeek knows about you — and why it matters by Christianna Silva
- Our old friend Nathan Freitas warned about this in 2023, China Wants to Regulate Its Artificial Intelligence Sector Without Crushing It – Sarah Zhenh and Jane Zhang of Bloomberg in Time
- The Feds have updated their AI guardrails, or removed them all together. In 2024, the Biden Administration announced AI guardrails. Now, those guardrails are removed. Trump Executive Order Aims to Position U.S. as AI Leader – Julia Edinger
- Congratulations to Julia Stoyanovich, who is among this year’s recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) – NYU Tandon
This Week in NYC Civic Tech / Gov Watch 
- Congestion Relief Zone data is slowly being released and there is nothing but good news. Emergency vehicles are getting to where they need to go QUICKER while more are taking mass transit, and busses are getting there quicker.
- The MTA Open Data Team has released data on Congestion Relief Zone Vehicle Entries, accompanied with a blog post that takes a deep dive into the data.
- Jason Froimowitz is using NYC Open Data to highlight how the Congestion Relief Zone is working!
- The MTA is gathering feedback on which stations should be prioritized for accessibility improvements over the next five years.
- Applications are open for the Transit Tech Lab, a public-private initiative between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Partnership Fund for New York City to apply new technology solutions to address critical transit challenges. Learn more and apply by February 27.
Jobs Alert and Announcements (for more listings, check out #Jobs on our Slack) 
- CUNY Online is seeking a Marketing and Communications Manager.
- The New York City Department of Education is searching for a Lead Data Analyst – Special Education.
- The New York City Department of Transportation is seeking an Economic Analyst.
- The New York City Independent Budget Office is hiring an Education Data Manager.
- The Office of the New York State Attorney General is recruiting a Data Analyst and a Data Scientist.
Upcoming Events 
Note: All times are listed in EDT
- January 30 at 5 pm Winter Open Data Week Meetup
- January 30 Build a Better Government Resume
- February 5 at 6 pm Discovering NYC Open Data: Online Session
- February 18 at 9am AI for Digital Democracy: How to navigate opportunities and threats
- February 19 at 10 am NYC Council Committee on Technology Hearing
- March 21 to April 6, 2025 Data Through Design’s Corpus: Bodies of Data
- March 22 to 30, 2025 NYC Open Data Week
- March 29, 2025 NYC School of Data
- June 19 to 21, 2025 State of the Map US, Boston
That’s it for today! Want to be featured in future posts? Share your community resources, projects, events, and anything else happening so we can feature them in future posts.
Take care of each other, and see you next week!