I trade in Chimera's Boston office, it's definitely still open and doing well. Everyone passed the 56 or had a 7.
Regarding tech, there are 4 IT guys in the New York office with phones and on IM and the partners are always available if you can't reach a tech guy.
Overall, it seems like these 2 firms are different animals. Chimera does not take money down from traders with no experience. I got hired and got a salary, and didn't have to do any capital contribution or training fees. There are also a bunch of real deal experienced traders with big bp that they support as well.