“Those two other people are not out of work - are picking up the jobs that can’t fill,” he said. In New York, construction is a major business for unions, and any technology that could replace humans with robots is bound to trigger a conversation with them. Skyline faces the same hurdles as other proptech firms looking to change the construction business, notably organized labor and regulators. Before the Durst investment, the company had raised a modest $9.5 million, including a $6.5 million seed round, according to Crunchbase.Ī spokesperson for Durst, whose website lists 20 properties in the city, declined to comment. It still has a long way to go before the city’s skyscraper facades are whizzing with robotic maids. The deal is Skyline’s largest step in breaking into the city’s highly regulated maintenance business. Skyline, whose advisory board includes Silverstein Properties CEO Marty Burger, aims to start robotic cleanings there around March. The former Freedom Tower has dealt with cleaning difficulties in the past, including a 2014 incident in which two window washers were stuck for over an hour on a dangling scaffold at the 69th floor.

Robotic window cleaner