Last year the city’s Economic Development Corporation announced their NYC BigApps competition, which invited anyone to develop an application using 170 sets of municipal data made available by 30 different agencies. Throughout the process, we've seen apps like Taxihack and NYC Broken Meters (aka free parking!) pop up, and last night the winners were officially announced.
Out of over 100 entrants, there were 10 winners (all in all $20,000 in cash prizes were dispersed and they'll all attend a dinner with Mayor Bloomberg). And the winners are... WayFinder NYC, which allows users to find the closest subway entrance; Taxihack, where you can review your driver; and Big Apple Ed, which gives access to profiles, reviews and information about the city’s public schools. CityRoom notes that there was also a Popular Choice award, which was given to NYC Way, an app that "offers a range of information for city residents and visitors." Well, that's vague! The app does offer a lot, giving you everything from a list of wanted criminals to tips on keeping it green to restaurant inspection info (that actually may be a terrifying thing to have access to).
