Tech:NYC brings back Julie Samuels as executive director

BY CARA EISENPRESS

The head of Tech:NYC is stepping down and will hand the reins back to the business group’s founder, Julie Samuels.

Jason Myles Clark, who took over last year, plans to move into a new position, which he did not disclose.

“As a lifelong public servant,” Clark said in a statement, “I am very excited to share what’s next for me as soon as I am permitted.”

Samuels was the founding leader

Education

of the organization, which acts as a booster for local tech firms and outof-town giants that have substantial office footprints in the city. The organization has grown from five members when it was founded in 2016, to 800 companies today.

In January 2022 Clark became the head of the organization. His term included a crash in the cryptocurrency subsector, a valuation haircut for firms that had gone public in 2021 and a near standstill for initial public offerings.

But during that time it also be- came clear how central technology had become to the city’s economy, with reports emerging that companies in the sector now employ about 200,000 people.

Tech:NYC has an annual budget of about $1.5 million, which it generates from membership dues. It produces research and lobbies on behalf of the industry.

Samuels stayed on the board of Tech:NYC after stepping down as executive director last year. She became a partner at Hangar, an investment firm seeking to produce innovations needed by government agencies. She also joined the 60-person “New” New York Panel, a public-private partnership that released the “Making New York Work for Every- one” report in December. The report recommended areas for growth.

Technology-related suggestions include integrating tech solutions into civic problems such as bus-route improvements and curb management, making libraries more technologically advanced hubs for remote work and adding matching funds for small-business-innovation research.

The latter seemed to gain traction in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget, which would put $6 million toward the project. ■

BY JACK GRIEVE

Colleges in New York are among the most expensive in the country.

Columbia University, with its annual undergraduate tuition listed at $65,524, is the second-most-expensive U.S. school, according to data compiled by The College Investor. It sits just behind Franklin & Marshall College of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which charges $65,652.

Vassar College is the next New York school on the list, with its $64,450 tuition making it the fourth most expensive. Reed College of Portland, Oregon, and Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, flank it in the top five.

Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Rochester sit at the 15th and 17th slots, with tuitions of $60,700 and $60,550, respectively.

The rankings are based on the schools’ listed tuition prices. Few students pay the list price after scholarships and other financial aid are factored in.

NYU’s tuition is listed at $60,438. It fell just beyond the 20 most expensive schools on the College Investor list. Also not included was Cornell University. Standard tuition at Cornell is $62,456, but the school has a number of departments that get funding from the state, bringing the price for New York residents down to $41,958.

That compares to other New York schools’ tuition listings: $58,600 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, $58,440 at Syracuse University, $56,920 at Fordham University and $45,200 at Yeshiva University.

Costs at SUNY and CUNY campuses are significantly lower. Annual tuition for New York residents is $7,070 at SUNY’s four-year colleges and $5,130 at its community colleges. Annual CUNY in-state tuition is $6,930 at senior colleges and $4,800 at community colleges. ■