Leveraging AI to Build Solutions for the New York City Community

At 7pm on October 19th, 44 Pursuit Builders and members of the NYC tech community came together at Pursuit's Long Island City office to build solutions for problems their communities face every day across New York City. The hackathon was sponsored by RevenueCat as part of NYC App Week. Mixed teams of Builders and guests had two hours to ideate, design, build and deploy. Every solution had to run on real open data or public APIs, and it had to be live by the deadline, with no slides and no mock-ups. By the end of the night, the Builders had shown what happens when the people who live with a city's problems get the tools to solve them.

The challenge required participants to pick a real problem New Yorkers face and build a working solution by the end of the night.

Teams worked from the city's own data. Every team had a starting point grounded in how the city actually runs, utilizing points like NYC Open Data, MTA feeds, and the NYC Events Calendar. Discussions in teams quickly focused on "what does my block, my commute or my neighbors need?" and "How can AI build that?"

Builders drew on problems they live with every day: getting around the city, finding services, staying informed, connecting with others. They used AI to move from idea to deployed product in under two hours. The result was a set of builds rooted in the communities the Builders come from.

As part of NYC App Week, Pursuit opened its doors to the wider tech community. Alongside Builders from every level of our AI-Native Program, we welcomed developers, designers and technologists from across New York City, and some from as far away as Europe.

Teams were assigned on purpose, not by friendship or cohort. Each one mixed Builders at different stages of the program with guests who were new to Pursuit. Newer Builders worked alongside people a few steps ahead, and experienced engineers got a fresh view of the city.

The mix made the night. Guests brought industry habits and new tools. Builders brought ideas grounded in lived experience of the problems they were solving.

None of this happens without partners who believe in what Builders can do. RevenueCat sponsored the night, funding the food that kept teams going and the API credits awarded to the winners. Their team was in the room too, talking with Builders and answering questions throughout the evening.

Thanks to our judges, Charlie Chapman (Lead Developer Advocate, RevenueCat), Sam Gross (Principal Product Manager, Kalepa), Kyle Van Essen, Bruce Davis (Customer Service Representative, Con Edison) and Pursuit's own Andrew Tein and Joe Fabisevich. They took on the hardest job of the night, scoring two-minute live demos in a head-to-head round, then choosing winners from the finalists.

Thanks to Joe Fabisevich, who brought the partnership together, Amed Sylla, and the Pursuit staff who made the night run smoothly.

Team DREAMERS NYC took the top spot with Number 1 & 2 For 212: Big City, Small Bladder, an app that helps New Yorkers find a restroom when they need one most. Users can search by accessibility needs or filter for facilities like baby changing tables, so it works for people with different needs across the wider community. Their mission says it all: "Less Panic. More Porcelain. Everyone's gotta go. Everyone deserves somewhere."

It's a problem every New Yorker knows, and the team turned it into a working, deployed build in two hours, on the same clock as everyone else in the room. Huge congratulations to the team on the night's strongest build! You can try the LIVE APP.