Nineteen years ago, The Gotham Center asked if New York City had “dropped the ball on computers,” after serving as the “crucible for communications technologies since the early nineteenth century — telegraph, movies, radio, TV.” Well, if our elected officials and the tech community are to be believed, those days are over. Since 2010, Gotham has become a fast-growing rival to Silicon Valley, thanks to various individuals and organizations in government, business, and the non-profit sector — and despite recent troubles with Amazon. In this wide-ranging discussion, we explore the recent history of New York City’s rise as a tech mecca, and discuss what the future holds for venture capital, employment, diversity, and platform companies such as Uber and Airbnb.

Tuesday, March 10th, 6:30 – 8 PM

Sharon Zukin, Graduate Center/Brooklyn College, CUNY sociologist; author, The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy David Ehrenberg, CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard Ben Kallos, NYC Council, District 5 Judith Spitz, Founding Program Director, Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNY), Cornell Tech John Frankel, Founding Partner, ff Venture Capital Moderator: Greg David, Columnist, Crain’s NY; Director of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY

This event is free but you must RSVP here.

Location: The Graduate Center, CUNY Elebash Recital Hall 365 Fifth Avenue (btw. 34th & 35th St.)

Presented with The Graduate Center, CUNY’s Office of Public Programs