Flatiron
New York's Flatiron district, main street of Silicon Alley.

In the Winter issue of City Journal, I take a look at the rebirth of what's known as New York's "Silicon Alley." I didn't have to go far to see the rise of this urban tech sector. The Flatiron-district offices of The New Criterion happen to be right in the middle of it, something I discuss in my podcast with CJ's Matthew Hennessey. The culture of New York is known for nurturing many things, but, up until now, tech entrepreneurialism hasn't been one of them. In "Net Gains," I look at why this might have changed.

If the nineteenth century saw New York mapped out in two dimensions, through the Commissioner’s Plan of 1811, and the twentieth century saw New York take on a third dimension, through the development of the skyscraper, the twenty-first century, through the Internet, is rapidly mapping Gotham into a fourth, virtual dimension. New York’s latest generation of tech entrepreneurs has found success by extending the city’s real-world, three-dimensional space into an increasingly complex network, where real, virtual, and mobile density all integrate together.

You can catch my entire look at New York's Net Gains here.

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