New York: to the other side of the East River

Economy - New start city

At the end of 2013, New York broke two records with four million jobs and over eight million inhabitants. But it's no longer just Wall Street, insurance or real estate that make it so attractive. High-tech and the good life are taking over.

Fulton Street, in lower Manhattan: a monumental glass cage will soon become one of the nerve centres of New York's underground traffic. Despite the trauma that shook the Financial District when Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012, work on the underground station is continuing. You can't stop New York like that! On the former site of Ground Zero, 4 World Trade Center is finally up and running. It is the first of the new buildings, designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. One World Trade Center, which is nearing completion, is already the tallest tower in the United States. And in 2015, the first tenants will move in behind its shimmering facets, which soar 1776 feet - a reference to Indé pendance - or just over 540 m above the canopy of the other skyscrapers. This will include the prestigious Condé Nast publishing company, which will relinquish its Times Square headquarters.

It is against this backdrop of unbridled dynamism that New York has just set new records. In December 2013, there were four million jobs in all boroughs combined (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx). "This has never happened before, not even in the 1960s, when the city was at the height of its prosperity".says Michael Moynihan, chief economist at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). Since 2009 and the end of the 'great recession', the number of jobs has been rising steadily every month. At the same time, the population has just reached 8,336,697. "New York is becoming more and more attractive, particularly since the city's economy is no longer focused solely on finance and insurance, a development that new mayor Bill De Blasio seems keen to consolidate".continues Michael Moynihan.

This trend has given impetus to new sectors, notably applied sciences and high technology, encouraged by the project for a gigantic campus on Roosevelt Island, the fruit of collaboration between Cornell University and the Israeli university Technion. "The first phase is due to open in the next few years and will make New York a high-tech capital".says Michael Moynihan. There are already 131,700 direct jobs in a field that is growing more than twice as fast as the rest of the private sector. But technology is just one facet of the many 'creative industries' thriving in the megalopolis. Design in the broadest sense, which includes fashion as well as architecture, is still very much present, thanks to schools such as Parsons School of Design, Pratt and FIT, which train around 4,000 graduates a year. 20 % of these will go on to set up their own businesses, 90 % of which will be based in New York.

Because this is where it all happens. In Brooklyn, to be precise. For decades, activity was concentrated in Manhattan, but the other four boroughs are now claiming their share of the glory. Brooklyn was the first to come into its own, almost becoming a city within a city. The neighbourhoods of Park Slope, Williamsburg and Dumbo have already passed the stage of 'hipsterisation', soon to be followed by Bushwick. In Dumbo, beneath the once-bad Brooklyn Bridge, dreamy lofts and innovative businesses are flourishing. This is the home of Etsy, the online fashion retailer that is taking North America and Europe by storm. This type of business, which starts off small and quickly explodes, is often the result of an original idea, typically New York. This is also the case with Marimacho, a line of menswear for women.

Brooklyn takes to the skies

In Brooklyn, initiatives to encourage niche businesses are not uncommon. Since the late 1980s, the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT), an arsenal dating back to 1918, has been home to small and medium-sized businesses in vast spaces at affordable rents. Today, 34,000 people work in this gigantic vessel. And these initiatives have certainly contributed to Brooklyn's economic boom: between 2002 and 2012, private sector employment grew by 19.4 %. Much more than in Manhattan (8.7 %). And the other boroughs are not to be outdone. Over the same period, according to the New York State Department of Labor NYSDOL, the Bronx recorded an increase of 12.6 %, Queens 10.5 % and Staten Island a small 6.7 %. This languid island, once only visited for the enchanting ferry crossing, is experiencing the beginnings of a revival. Since the success of the Staten Island Yankees stadium in the early 2000s, other projects are on the horizon. In 2015, the Staten Island Eye is due to open, a giant wheel that will rival those of London and Singapore.

So each borough is looking for a way to attract. The Bronx is riding the wave of locavore - 'eating local' - and upmarket food products. It is even opening urban farms. "This trend shows that there is a new boom in the manufacturing sectorexplains Andrea Moore, economist at the New York NYCEDC. Even if it only accounts for 3 % of jobs."

Because 60 % of New York jobs are still generated by the three super-powerful FIRE engines (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate). However, this figure is falling. Whereas they accounted for 14 % of private sector jobs in 1990, they represented just 9.3 % in 2013. "Other sectors are expandingsays Andrea Moore. New York has entered a truly new phase."This is because the megalopolis has a lot to offer, not just in terms of culture, but also in terms of quality of life, which is becoming increasingly important. Improvements in this area are well under way, with the development of parks and cycle paths, and the opening of a new section of the High Line - a green corridor suspended over old disused railway lines - near the future Whitney Museum designed by Renzo Piano and scheduled for 2015...

Everything is changing, and for the better. Which explains the 54.3 million visitors in 2013, who generated an economic impact of $58.7 billion according to the NYC & Company tourism board. And this attractiveness does not leave the French indifferent. New York is a model for major French companies, particularly in the retail sector," explains Caroline Durakovic, export advisor at Ubifrance New York. Here, we don't just sell a product, we offer an experience, a dream". The New York dream, the one that leads to great departures...