Queens Wants in on NYC's Tech Boom
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
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Brian Shimmerlik, CEO of Vengo Office, in his office in Queens, NY (Chris Mossa for WNYC)
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After several years, New York City has become a significant
technology hub in the country. But until recently, much of the growth in
this sector has been located in Manhattan and a few corners in
Brooklyn. That could be starting to change as startups take a closer
look at Queens.
With large spaces left behind from a previously industrial base, Queens is attractive to new tech companies in the “maker” community, companies that are developing a physical product that needs to be prototyped and then tested.
But the borough has work to do convincing people who don’t live in Queens that those jobs and companies are here to stay. Software engineers and developers who live in Brooklyn and beyond often see Queens as being on the fringes of New York tech’s scene. That, in turn, can make it tough to recruit talent.
Queen’s supporters, however, say that the growth of the tech sector in the borough will continue and point to one future development: Cornell Tech, the new applied sciences campus set to open on Roosevelt Island in 2017. Legions of Ivy League students studying will be right off the borough’s western shore. The hope is that many of them will look to Queens as a place to launch their businesses.
With large spaces left behind from a previously industrial base, Queens is attractive to new tech companies in the “maker” community, companies that are developing a physical product that needs to be prototyped and then tested.
But the borough has work to do convincing people who don’t live in Queens that those jobs and companies are here to stay. Software engineers and developers who live in Brooklyn and beyond often see Queens as being on the fringes of New York tech’s scene. That, in turn, can make it tough to recruit talent.
Queen’s supporters, however, say that the growth of the tech sector in the borough will continue and point to one future development: Cornell Tech, the new applied sciences campus set to open on Roosevelt Island in 2017. Legions of Ivy League students studying will be right off the borough’s western shore. The hope is that many of them will look to Queens as a place to launch their businesses.
