5 ms·

NYC Hacker Collective: Revenge of the Nerds

48 points by fleaflicker 18y ago

randomwalker 18y ago
I'm seeing signs that hackers are making some progress in getting our word back. Am I imagining it or have others noticed it too? ESR tried to do it in the last decade by beating it over people's heads; the "shut up, build cool stuff and let people find out" approach seems to be working a whole lot better.
time_management 18y ago
If rents come down in New York quickly, this city will have no problem becoming the #3 or #4 startup hub. Banks and hedge funds are pushing out a lot of talented hackers who chased the money, did boring subordinate stuff for three years during the Wall Street boom, and now want to get themselves into something interesting. Of course, we're talking about reason and efficiency with regard to New York residential issues, so the aforementioned "if" is a big one. If landlords are short-sighted and greedy enough to keep rents high while accepting a vacancy rate, the talent will flush out of here before New York has the opportunity to establish itself as a tech hub... and then it's only a matter of time before we're back in the '70s.
- fcjqbuvjxpxml 18y ago
  Until the city decide that this should be zoned industrial and so can only exist 30miles out of the city in somewhere with no transit. Then the lawyers demand huge liability insurance Then DHS raid it because electronics=bombs
- spencerfry 18y ago
  New York is already a tech hub and rising quickly. Spend one week here mingling with people working at various startups and you'll be blown away. And rent isn't all that bad in Brooklyn and various parts of Manhattan.
- Prrometheus 18y ago
  If they drop rent, couldn't they get stuck there because of rent control laws? I'm not sure exactly how the law works, but I know that landlords don't have a lot of flexibility in NYC.
  - time_management 18y ago
    Rent-stabilized buildings would be affected. Rent-control is a different beast altogether. Rent-stabilized means that an apartment's rent can't increase faster than the rate of inflation, plus a certain margin (1-2% per year, I believe). The purpose of this is to remove the volatility in rents that causes urban centers to rot. When rents are volatile, it's bad for residential infrastructure on both the up and down swings. When rents are high, as in 2007 New York, landlords don't need to do shit to move properties, so they let them decline. When rents are low, there's no point in improving the housing. This is why a lot of urban centers crumbled in the 1950s. Rent control was instituted in the 1940s to prevent GIs from coming back to unaffordable rents. For rent-controlled (unlike rent-stabilized) apartments, the landlord cannot raise the rent at all (meaning he takes a loss equal to the rate of inflation). Rent stabilization is a good thing and should be extended. Rent control was a huge mistake and should probably be abolished. One thing that happens in non-RS buildings in New York (the new-construction "luxury" buildings) is that landlords routinely hit tenants with 10-20% rent increases, regardless of the direction of the market. The reason for this is that they know people hate moving, especially in New York where most people don't have cars, and Wall Streeters are (were) getting 25-50% raises each year, so they would take the pain. If rents are decreased on a rent-stabilized building, I don't think it's easy to bring them back up, but this is probably better than carrying a vacancy. I've heard that RC goes out the window if there's a 5% vacancy rate, but that could be an urban myth. It's getting close to that point right now.
- vaksel 18y ago
  rent is hardly a barrier to entry to most startups that have the money to actually open an office. SV and California in general are hardly rent friendly
  - time_management 18y ago
    I'm talking about residential rent, not office space. It contributes massively to the burn rate, especially in New York. To cover the additional living costs, you need $20k+ post-tax per person, per year, more than you would need in a place like Madison, WI. It wouldn't kill a VC-funded post-series A startup, but it makes it harder to survive on seed funding.
bprater 18y ago
“People think hacker means a criminal,” said Devon Jones, a 33-year-old member of the collective who was slumped on a ratty couch drinking a beer. “Well, we want our word back.” Me too!
- andreyf 18y ago
  I haven't met a person who thought hacker meant criminal in 5 years now...
  - dmix 18y ago
    Really? I still frequently find myself explaining to people what a web application is.
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
  - dmoney 18y ago
    In person, I think I've only heard it used in the criminal sense. Even among programmers.
    - andreyf 18y ago
      I guess that means I'm hanging around the right people...
  - netcan 18y ago
    Here you go: http://news.google.com/news?q=hacker&ie=utf-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wn&oi=property_suggestions&resnum=0&ct=property-revision&cd=5 http://news.google.com/news?q=hacker&ie=utf-8&oe=UTF... Looks about 50/50
    - andreyf 18y ago
      Sorry, I should have been more precise - sure, everyone uses the word "hacker" with criminal intension sometimes, but people know there are other meanings, also.
KevBurnsJr 18y ago
It seems to me rather romantic to be considered a hacker in all senses, turning mushy concepts into cold hard code with criminal efficiency.
gourneau 18y ago
Hey someone is drinking a Club Mate the hacker drink of choice! http://tr.im/2qa5 http://tr.im/2qa5
cowmoo 18y ago
FYI, for those of you guys who are located in the greater Boston area, check out the South End Technology Center (http://www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv/ http://www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv/). Like the NYC outfit, they have a Fab Lab with laser cutters/drill bits/circuit making machinery and open-access hours to public for anyone who's interested. Also, if you are in D.C, check out HacDC, a hacker collective in D.C. (http://hacdc.org/ http://hacdc.org/). I've never been, but read about them in 2600. They seem pretty cool.

48 points by fleaflicker 18y ago

I'm seeing signs that hackers are making some progress in getting our word back. Am I imagining it or have others noticed it too? ESR tried to do it in the last decade by beating it over people's heads; the "shut up, build cool stuff and let people find out" approach seems to be working a whole lot better.

time_management 18y ago

If rents come down in New York quickly, this city will have no problem becoming the #3 or #4 startup hub. Banks and hedge funds are pushing out a lot of talented hackers who chased the money, did boring subordinate stuff for three years during the Wall Street boom, and now want to get themselves into something interesting. Of course, we're talking about reason and efficiency with regard to New York residential issues, so the aforementioned "if" is a big one. If landlords are short-sighted and greedy enough to keep rents high while accepting a vacancy rate, the talent will flush out of here before New York has the opportunity to establish itself as a tech hub... and then it's only a matter of time before we're back in the '70s.

fcjqbuvjxpxml 18y ago
Until the city decide that this should be zoned industrial and so can only exist 30miles out of the city in somewhere with no transit. Then the lawyers demand huge liability insurance Then DHS raid it because electronics=bombs
spencerfry 18y ago
New York is already a tech hub and rising quickly. Spend one week here mingling with people working at various startups and you'll be blown away. And rent isn't all that bad in Brooklyn and various parts of Manhattan.
Prrometheus 18y ago
If they drop rent, couldn't they get stuck there because of rent control laws? I'm not sure exactly how the law works, but I know that landlords don't have a lot of flexibility in NYC.
- time_management 18y ago
  Rent-stabilized buildings would be affected. Rent-control is a different beast altogether. Rent-stabilized means that an apartment's rent can't increase faster than the rate of inflation, plus a certain margin (1-2% per year, I believe). The purpose of this is to remove the volatility in rents that causes urban centers to rot. When rents are volatile, it's bad for residential infrastructure on both the up and down swings. When rents are high, as in 2007 New York, landlords don't need to do shit to move properties, so they let them decline. When rents are low, there's no point in improving the housing. This is why a lot of urban centers crumbled in the 1950s. Rent control was instituted in the 1940s to prevent GIs from coming back to unaffordable rents. For rent-controlled (unlike rent-stabilized) apartments, the landlord cannot raise the rent at all (meaning he takes a loss equal to the rate of inflation). Rent stabilization is a good thing and should be extended. Rent control was a huge mistake and should probably be abolished. One thing that happens in non-RS buildings in New York (the new-construction "luxury" buildings) is that landlords routinely hit tenants with 10-20% rent increases, regardless of the direction of the market. The reason for this is that they know people hate moving, especially in New York where most people don't have cars, and Wall Streeters are (were) getting 25-50% raises each year, so they would take the pain. If rents are decreased on a rent-stabilized building, I don't think it's easy to bring them back up, but this is probably better than carrying a vacancy. I've heard that RC goes out the window if there's a 5% vacancy rate, but that could be an urban myth. It's getting close to that point right now.
vaksel 18y ago
rent is hardly a barrier to entry to most startups that have the money to actually open an office. SV and California in general are hardly rent friendly
- time_management 18y ago
  I'm talking about residential rent, not office space. It contributes massively to the burn rate, especially in New York. To cover the additional living costs, you need $20k+ post-tax per person, per year, more than you would need in a place like Madison, WI. It wouldn't kill a VC-funded post-series A startup, but it makes it harder to survive on seed funding.

bprater 18y ago

“People think hacker means a criminal,” said Devon Jones, a 33-year-old member of the collective who was slumped on a ratty couch drinking a beer. “Well, we want our word back.” Me too!

andreyf 18y ago
I haven't met a person who thought hacker meant criminal in 5 years now...
- dmix 18y ago
  Really? I still frequently find myself explaining to people what a web application is.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
- dmoney 18y ago
  In person, I think I've only heard it used in the criminal sense. Even among programmers.
  - andreyf 18y ago
    I guess that means I'm hanging around the right people...
- netcan 18y ago
  Here you go: http://news.google.com/news?q=hacker&ie=utf-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wn&oi=property_suggestions&resnum=0&ct=property-revision&cd=5 http://news.google.com/news?q=hacker&ie=utf-8&oe=UTF... Looks about 50/50
  - andreyf 18y ago
    Sorry, I should have been more precise - sure, everyone uses the word "hacker" with criminal intension sometimes, but people know there are other meanings, also.

KevBurnsJr 18y ago

It seems to me rather romantic to be considered a hacker in all senses, turning mushy concepts into cold hard code with criminal efficiency.

gourneau 18y ago

Hey someone is drinking a Club Mate the hacker drink of choice! http://tr.im/2qa5 http://tr.im/2qa5

cowmoo 18y ago

FYI, for those of you guys who are located in the greater Boston area, check out the South End Technology Center (http://www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv/ http://www.tech-center-enlightentcity.tv/). Like the NYC outfit, they have a Fab Lab with laser cutters/drill bits/circuit making machinery and open-access hours to public for anyone who's interested. Also, if you are in D.C, check out HacDC, a hacker collective in D.C. (http://hacdc.org/ http://hacdc.org/). I've never been, but read about them in 2600. They seem pretty cool.