The New York Public Library’s Builtfor NYC: AI
Hackathon Official Rules
Builtfor NYC: AI Hackathon Prompt:
Using generative AI and "vibe coding," your mission is to develop a web app, assisted by AI, that
meets a challenge that NYC is facing, for example, mapping food deserts, organizing neighborhood
park utilization, or improving local access to city resources.
The New York Public Library's Builtfor NYC: AI Hackathon Official Rules
IMPORTANT: Please read these Official Rules before entering the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon,
presented by The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations with support from
Google.org. By entering the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon, you agree to the terms of these Official
Rules. These Official Rules shall govern in the event of any inconsistency with other Built for NYC:
AI Hackathon-related materials.
ELIGIBILITY: The Built for NYC: AI Hackathon (the “Event”) is open to U.S. residents who live,
work, or go to school in the five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island,
Brooklyn, or Queens), who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of entry. All applicable
federal, state, and/or local rules and regulations apply. LIMIT ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. VOID
WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED. Employees, officers and trustees of Sponsor and its
parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and advertising and promotion agencies, and their respective
family members and household members, are not eligible to enter the Built for NYC: AI
Hackathon.
ENTRY PERIOD: The Built for NYC: AI Hackathon begins at 11:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight
Time) on August 15th, 2026, and ends at 2:00 PM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) on August 16th,
2026.
HOW TO ENTER: Entrants must have registered for the Event via Eventbrite at
eventbrite.com/e/1994000516221 before Friday, August 7th at 12:00 AM. Entrants must attend
the Event in person at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, 455 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016
and complete and submit their entries electronically using the link provided by 2:00 PM EDT
(Eastern Daylight Time) on Sunday, August 16, 2026. Enter by completing and submitting the entry
form as instructed at the applicable Built for NYC: AI Hackathon entry submission link:
[https://on.nypl.org/hack-dev]. No purchase necessary.
Automated entries are prohibited, and use of any automated devices will result in disqualification.
Entrants must have a valid email address. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen,
incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will
be voided, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic. Proof of
submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.
Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon or winning
a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the
legitimate operation of the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon by cheating, cybersecurity breaches,
deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs)
or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor representatives.
SUBMISSION CRITERIA:
All submissions must incorporate "vibe coding"to develop a web app that meets a challenge that
NYC is facing, for example, mapping food deserts, organizing neighborhood park utilization, or
improving local access to city resources to be in the running for placement in the main category;
winners will be chosen and ranked based on how novel and impactful the submitted app serves
this purpose.
To meet the criteria for the “Best Beginner Project”, entrants must have no prior professional vibe
coding experience and must not have previously participated in any other vibe coding hackathon
or contest.
To meet the criteria for the “Best Use of NYC Open Data”, you must use a resource made available
by NYC Open Data (https://opendata.cityofnewyork.us/) in a novel way that serves to solve a
common problem or make certain information more accessible to New Yorkers.
PRIZES:
Five (5) winners will be awarded.
a) ONE (1) first-prize winner in the main category will be awarded two hundred dollars
($200)
b) ONE (1) second-prize winner in the main category will be awarded one hundred dollars
($100)
c) ONE (1) third-prize winner in the main category will be awarded fifty dollars ($50)
d) ONE (1) winner will be awarded $150 for “Best Beginner Project”
e) ONE (1) winner will be awarded $150 for “Best Use of NYC Open Data”
Actual value of prize may vary. No transfer or cash or other substitution of all or part of a prize
is permitted, except by Sponsor, which reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute
the prize or prize component with another of comparable or greater value. Any and all taxes on
the prize will be the responsibility of the winners. Sponsor shall not be responsible for any
cancellations, delays, postponements, substitutions, changes in services, damage in the
delivery of the prize, and/or loss of any prize in connection with delivery of the prize via mail.
In the event that there is an insufficient number of eligible entries, Sponsor reserves the right
not to award the prizes.
WINNER(S) SELECTION: Winner(s) will be selected by Judges composed of a committee of NYPL
and Major League Hacking PBC Inc. staff on or about August 16th, 2026 from all eligible entries
received by the entry deadline. Submissions will be selected for publication on the event Devpost
in the sole discretion and judgment of the committee based on i) adherence to the NYPL’s Built for
NYC: AI Hackathon prompt; ii) originality in concept; and iii) potential impact.
Winners will be announced at the Event and must respond to an email notification from NYPL to
claim their prizes within [fourteen (14) days of receipt]. Winners will be required to complete,
execute, and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release, and where lawful, a Publicity
Release. Noncompliance with these conditions may result in forfeiture of the Prize, and NYPL
reserves the right to select alternate winners from all remaining eligible entries received before
the deadline in such circumstances. If winner notification of the Prize is returned as undeliverable,
NYPL may, at its discretion, select an alternate winner. Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will
be given.
PRIVACY POLICY: NYPL will be collecting personal data about entrants online, in accordance with
its privacy policy. Please review the NYPL’s privacy policy: nypl.org/privacy. By participating in the
Built for NYC: AI Hackathon, entrants hereby agree to NYPL’s collection and usage of their
personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted NYPL’s privacy policy.
DISCLAIMERS/LICENSE: By entering and/or accepting the prize, Built for NYC: AI Hackathon
entrants hereby grant to the Sponsor a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license
to use, display, publish, reproduce, and distribute the entrant’s submission (including project
descriptions, screenshots, videos, and team names). Sponsor and its respective parent companies,
assigns, subsidiaries and affiliates, and advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies and all of
their respective employees, officers and directors will have no liability whatsoever, and will be held
harmless by entrants for any liability for any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind to person and
property resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from the acceptance, possession,
misuse, or use of the prizes, or participation in this Built for NYC: AI Hackathon; and none will be
returned. Sponsor is not responsible if the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon cannot take place or if
prize cannot be awarded due to travel cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of God,
acts of war, natural disasters, cybersecurity incidents, weather or acts of terrorism.
Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in
operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized
access to, or alteration of, entries. The Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical
malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers,
computer equipment, software, failure of any email or entry to be received by Sponsor on account
of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site, any combination
thereof, or otherwise, including any injury or damage to entrant's or any other person's computer
related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the Built for NYC: AI
Hackathon. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon
or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to
undermine the legitimate operation of the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon by cheating, cybersecurity
breaches, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry
programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor
representatives.
Caution: Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the
legitimate operation of the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon may be a violation of criminal and
civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages
from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.
RIGHT TO MODIFY OR CANCEL: Sponsor may cancel, suspend or modify the Built for NYC: AI
Hackathon or any part of it, in any way, if Sponsor determines in its sole discretion that the Built
for NYC: AI Hackathon is not capable of executing as Sponsor intended, or that any error,
omission, fraud, technical failure, tampering, computer virus, or other factor, technical or
otherwise, beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control, impairs or may impair Sponsor’s ability to
properly conduct the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon, subject to any applicable law or regulation.
a) LIST OF WINNERS: For the list of winners, email NYPL’s TechConnect Department at
techconnect@nypl.org 90 days after the Built for NYC: AI Hackathon with the email title:
‘Built for NYC: AI Hackathon: WINNERS LIST.’
b) SPONSOR: The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, 476 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10018. This Event is made possible by the generous support of
Google.org, the prize sponsor of the Event.