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NYC Introduces New Tech Pilots, Improving Safety and Daily Life

Smart City

Business Honor NYC Launches New Tech Safety Pilots

Business Honor
25 November, 2025

New York City is testing sensors and reality tools to study public spaces and involve people in designing future buildings.

New York City is introducing two new pilot projects with the NYC Smart City Testbed Program, a further step in its attempt to use technology to improve daily life. The projects, announced by CTO Matt Fraser, aim to make public spaces safer while offering people new ways to get involved in city planning. The Office of Technology and Innovation's Testbed Program that was launched in 2023, brings together city organizations, business owners, and universities to try out new tools that could help solve urban challenges.

Previous pilots used AI to help the Parks Department regularly monitor facility conditions, as well as lidar technology to help the Department of City Planning to better understand industrial activity. The first of this year's studies will be aimed at how people move about and spend time in public places. The city's technology and transportation departments will work closely with a company that makes tracking sensors. They will track private foot traffic and how long people stay in six distinct locations across the city. Officials believe this data will offer an understanding of crowd patterns.

The second pilot, led by the technology office and the Department of Design and Construction, will use reality tools to involve the community in the design of the new Roy Wilkins Recreation Center in St. Albans, Queens. Visitors can scan the QR codes to see a 3D digital model of the future buildings. As the Testbed Program grows, city officials are aiming to create a future where New York's streets not only serve citizens, but also help the city better understand them.