Business

Major New York City-based companies are using a new “Health Pass” app that will enable employees to safely return to their offices while preventing the spread of the coronavirus. The app — developed by biometric company CLEAR — will link personal health data to verified IDs and screen workers for COVID-19. The first one million workers employed by participating firms will be able to download the CLEAR app from their smartphone for free from Google Play or the Apple Store and set up their account by uploading ID documents and then snapping a quick selfie. Workers will be able to link their COVID-19 lab test results to Health Pass. Employees’ will check their health status from the CLEAR app before gaining clearance to their office. Upon entry, workers verify their identity with a selfie, answer a few health questions and then approach a CLEAR kiosk, where they receive a temperature check, and get scanned results. Employees are issued a red or green notification on their Health Pass app — green means clearance to enter the office and red means denial. The boss gets the results. The National Hockey League used the health app when its teams were in the pandemic

Uber is getting into the grocery game in New York City, The Post has learned. The ride-hail giant announced Wednesday that its Uber and Uber Eats apps will roll out a grocery delivery service to most of Manhattan, and said it plans to expand citywide through the rest of the year. New Yorkers who open the Uber or Uber Eats apps will now see a grocery shopping tab, which will use their delivery address to show them what participating shops are available to them. In addition to chains like Gristedes, D’Agostino’s and Westside Market, the app will also be able to send couriers to smaller shops like Sullivan Street Bakery and Dickson’s Farmstand Meats in Chelsea. Uber spokesman Harry Hartfield told The Post that it has more than 50 supermarkets and specialty stores signed up on its platform, and is working to sign up more and expand its coverage area. Instead of expanding incrementally, Uber will increase its footprint in chunks when it has enlisted enough shops in a given area. “We’re a one-stop shop for everything transportation in New York City — whether you want to go out and explore the Big Apple in a car or just have

Mark Zuckerberg agrees that “Section 230” needs to change, but he doesn’t recommend changing it too much. The Facebook CEO warned on Tuesday that there could be bad consequences to rolling back protections from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — a 1996 landmark federal law that gives online platforms some legal protections from the content that’s posted by their users. In prepared testimony he’s slated to give to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Zuckerberg warned that eliminating Section 230 protections could actually result in more censorship on the web, as companies will actively seek to avoid publishing anything that could get them into legal trouble. Without the law, tech companies could face liability for doing even basic moderation, such as removing hate speech and harassment, he said. “Without Section 230, platforms could potentially be held liable for everything people say,” Zuckerberg said in prepared remarks to the Senate Commerce Committee. Still, he added that “Congress should update the law to make sure it’s working as intended,” and that “We stand ready to work with Congress on what regulation in these areas could look like.” Zuckerberg on Wednesday is slated to testify to the Senate panel along with Twitter CEO

There’s still a glimmer of hope for the movie theater industry this year, despite dismal domestic box office sales and climbing coronavirus cases, analysts said. The country’s two biggest markets, New York City and Los Angeles, still could give sickly box office sales a much-needed jolt if they reopen before the end of 2020. “A true box office restart might not be that far off on the horizon,” said MKM Partners media analyst Eric Handler, who noted that Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984” and Disney’s Agatha Christie mystery, “Death on the Nile,” are both still slated for December 2020 premieres. The analyst noted that both the Big Apple and the City of Angels are inching closer to meeting their respective state criteria for reopening cinemas. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed cinemas to reopen in the state this weekend. And media watchers expect NYC to fall close behind as COVID-19 outbreak clusters in places such as Brooklyn and Queens shrink. While Los Angeles is battling rising cases, Handler said he is “hopeful that by Thanksgiving” both cities are able to reopen. “A lot can happen in the next four to six weeks,” the analyst said, adding that if those cities

Technology stocks, which have surged for months during the pandemic, likely hit their top last month, hedge fund investor David Einhorn wrote on Tuesday, adding that he’s prepared for a drop by betting against more names, including second-tier companies and ones that just listed their stock. Einhorn, who runs Greenlight Capital, wrote in a letter “we are in the midst of an enormous tech bubble,” but noted “September 2, 2020 was the top and the bubble has already popped.” Reuters saw a copy of the letter. Einhorn said he’s “adjusted” his portfolio’s short-book with bets that stock prices will fall by “adding a fresh bubble basket” of mostly second-tier companies and “recent IPOs trading at remarkable valuations.” Einhorn, who made a timely call against Lehman Brothers just months before the bank collapsed, said he prematurely identified what he thought was a bubble in 2016. He announced his first bubble basket — including bets against high flyers like Tesla and Amazon — years ago. Now, he says, “there is a consensus that there is a bubble.” The signs are clear, Einhorn wrote, citing the race to list companies publicly, high volumes in speculative trading instruments and a “parabolic ascent toward a

Many New York City bodegas continue to dole out plastic bags with purchases — risking hefty fines — because paper bags are too costly and hard to find, a new survey found.  The Bodega and Small Business Association, which boasts 5,000 members, said it conducted an informal survey of Bronx-based bodega owners this week found that at least 35 of them are still handing out single-use plastic bags at check out, despite enforcement of the statewide ban going into effect on Oct. 19. “We are taking the chance on giving out plastic bags, risking getting a fine, because paper bags are too expensive” said the association’s president Francisco Marte, who also owns several bodegas. As The Post has reported, paper bags are also in scarce supply because there aren’t enough factories to meet the rising demand.   Bodega owners have found that a package of 200 paper bags costs up to $50 compared with $11 for a package of 600 single-use plastic bags, the survey said. Meanwhile, the state won’t let retailers to recoup those expenses. Stores can charge a 5-cent tax for each paper bag they hand out, but that money goes to state and municipal coffers.    Some retailers who

Yet another service provider is jumping into the TV streaming wars. This time it’s T-Mobile and its TVision service with live news, entertainment and sports channels, starting at $10 a month. T-Mobile says it’s aiming to offer a simpler and and cheaper service for people dissatisfied with cable. But it’s entering a crowded field. And most similar streaming services have found it difficult to sustain low prices over time. TVision will offer three branches of its service. TVision Live will have live news, entertainment and sports channels at three tiers priced at $40, $50 and $60, depending on how many sports channels you want. The $40 option offers around 30 channels including ABC, NBC, Fox, CNN, Fox News, ESPN, and Fox Sports Networks. Then there’s TVision Vibe, which is $10 a month and includes about 30 channels from AMC, Discovery and Viacom — but no sports. And TVision Channels, which lets you sign up for individual channel streaming services, starting with just three: Starz, Showtime and Epix. A slew of new streaming services started to challenge traditional TV providers and dominant streaming services like Netflix over the past year, including Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max and Comcast’s Peacock

Home-rental startup Airbnb plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq, setting the stage for one of 2020’s most high-profile stock market debuts. Earlier this month, Reuters reported the company was aiming to raise $3 billion in its IPO, which could give it a valuation of more than $30 billion, and that it was targeting a listing before the end of the year. The push to go public and the growth in its potential valuation underscores Airbnb’s dramatic recovery from earlier this year, when it secured emergency funding from investors and the outlook for the travel industry was uncertain. San Francisco-based Airbnb, which has benefited as travelers shy away from larger hotels and instead prefer to drive to local vacation rentals, said in July that customers had booked more than 1 million nights in a single day for the first time since March 3. Airbnb did not give a timeline for when it may complete its IPO. The company had filed confidentially for an IPO with US regulators in August. Reuters reported earlier this year that billionaire investor William Ackman had approached Airbnb about going public through a reverse merger with his blank-check company but that Airbnb was prioritizing going

YouTube will add labels to election-related videos starting on Election Day to warn viewers that the results of the hotly contested vote may not be final. The move announced Tuesday is part of the Google-owned platform’s efforts to clamp down on misinformation as the contentious race between President Trump and Joe Biden enters its final week. The “information panels,” as YouTube calls them, will appear under videos that discuss the election and at the top of search results for a broad range of election-related queries, YouTube said in a blog post. They’ll include a link to a Google election page that will compile real-time results from the Associated Press. YouTube said it will continue promoting videos from “authoritative” news sources, such as CNN and Fox News, in search results and its “watch next” panels. It will also put links to information about how to vote at top of its homepage leading up to Election Day and information about where to vote on Election Day itself. “Our teams have been working around the clock to make sure we have the systems and policies in place to prevent the abuse of our systems and provide access to authoritative information this election season,”

LVMH and Tiffany & Co. are hoping to kiss and make up ahead of a dramatic court battle over their $16 billion proposed marriage, The Post has learned. The luxury conglomerate and the storied New York jeweler are renegotiating the terms of their proposed union after LVMH tried to walk away last month — sparking a heated legal battle that’s poised to go to trial in January, sources said. The new terms would see LVMH, the company behind luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Fendi, purchase Tiffany for $130 to $133 per share, according to CNBC, a slight discount from the original price of $135 per share that the companies settled on last year. Each dollar that’s knocked off the per-share purchase price would save LVMH about $121 million based on Tiffany’s number of outstanding shares. Tiffany has indicated that it’s open to a lower price as long as it isn’t less than $130 per share and LVMH closes the deal without changing any more terms, according to the Financial Times, which first reported on the renegotiations Tuesday. LVMH declined to comment on the reported talks. Tiffany did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The developments came a day after