I was just talking about this earlier. The startup I worked for a bunch of years ago hired a lot of people to do customer support and some manual tasks. Most of that is likely automated away now by AI. Well, most of the people hired then went on to successful careers. Lots of directors and managers in that cohort now. They got their start at an entry level job, made connections, learned a lot of stuff. But that kind of job is rarer now.
Capitalism is like a cancer. It grows and grows and grows and kills the host. It knows nothing else.
I'm not aware of any NYC communities, even inactive ones, on the fediverse, though I haven't looked very hard. That link you provided errors out, if it's supposed to work.
I read that book right after taking like English 400: Theory and Criticism, so I was like "yeah it has footnotes but doesn't every book have footnotes?" Then I recommended it to a friend who hadn't read a book more complex than harry potter in 20 years, and her brain like caught fire.
Most people don't know or care about reddit details. Every post could kick a puppy and people would be like "oh I forgot. But it's where the content is so"
I hated how it played though. And there was so much filler. And a subscription fee. And no mods.