RE: "Why do companies do summer fridays? In the northeast, you typically have about 2-3 months where the weather is nice enough to go to the beach."

Yeah so this is exactly why I'm wrestling with it. I totally get that it's an opportunity to enjoy the weather in the NE, and the culture is to hit the Hamptons or Fire Island etc., and that a lot of other colleagues are out there too. But another key part of what you said is "[These companies] often are profitable." So I'm super curious to know what high-growth, private, not-yet-profitable startups in NYC do.

I guess one way to think about it is: In SF many of us take 3-5 days off, at once, for Burning Man. In NYC they space it out over summer Friday afternoons.