Editorial
New York City: Hollywood East And More

The odds are most movies released lately were created, directed or produced, at least in large part, in New York City. It's also a pretty good bet that many of the shows and most of the commercials on network or cable television were produced right here. Hollywood may bill itself as the center of the movie and television world, but the East Coast is rapidly gaining ground. "The visual media, both traditional and digital, are one of the most vibrant and fastest growing sectors in New York City economy. They are a key part of the broader media and culture sectors that are essential to New York City's position as a world class city and a major tourist attraction," city Comptroller Alan Hevesi said.

He's right. According to "Building New York's Visual Media Industry in the Digital Age," a study sponsored in part by Hevesi's office, television, film and commercial production contributed more than 70,000 jobs and $5 billion in direct spending to the New York City economy in 1999. The $5 billion figure was double the $2.5 billion estimated by previous studies. Digital media contribute another $5 billion in direct spending and 100,000 jobs, according to another study, this one conducted by the New York New Media Association and accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

The city has become a center for new media, due largely to the strength of the traditional variety--the film and television studios that flourish daily, especially here in Queens--and the synergy between traditional media and the Internet exemplified in Silicon Alley in lower Manhattan, which is increasingly looking to expand across the East River again into Queens, where rents are lower and space more available.

The study also recommended turning New York City into the East Coast Media Zone, with industry clusters around the city. We believe that by "around the city" the study's authors don't mean neighboring states. They mean Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island--the four other boroughs which, by virtue of a transportation system that, like the city, it serves, never sleeps, are at hand any hour of the day or night. The cityscape itself is the backdrop for many of the movies made where which have become classics in their time.

Those 170,000-plus employed New Yorkers in the course of their workday are generating even more income for themselves and the city they live in. The tourists who come to New York City, among other reasons to watch a show being filmed or broadcast live, also add to the city's income. Yes, they'll go home at the end of their stay, but while they're here they put dollars in New York City coffers. Of course, New Yorkers reciprocate. We offer hospitality, cultural enrichment and simply by virtue of being the vibrant, growing metropolis that we are, continuing entertainment. A tourist--or a native, for that matter--has to work awfully hard to be bored in New York City.

Seizing the media opportunity, the participants in the study created the New York Visual Media Alliance to promote growth and convergence between the visual and digital media industries. We wish them success. Our thriving economy, our talent pool, our city itself all make for the most exciting production venue in existence. We can think of nowhere else so deserving of the title of the east Coast Media Capital.