NYC is very clearly dominant with respect to the media/government/finance thing; unfortunately the tech scene gets taken there with it. This is a draw for some people, if you're into one of those sectors then NYC is roughly the best place to be in the world.
However, the city is terrible at "technology for technology's sake." Take a look at most of the companies on this list; virtually none of them would have come out of a university research lab. That's not a bad thing; arguably most of HN focuses on the "agile web startup that defines itself on execution" style of company. I personally wanted to work on something with a bit more intellectual substance; startups that focus on research and engineering (as opposed to social coupons or selling stylish eyeglasses online) tend to be near Boston/Austin/Seattle/SF.
Also note that tech journalism coming out of NYC has the finance/media/gov't/social slant as well; I tend to distrust the Times' technology reporting because it's going to inform me about Foursquare instead of a radical new GPS chip company. If the latter did come up, it would be viewed through the lens of investment and profit instead of the underlying tech.
However, the city is terrible at "technology for technology's sake." Take a look at most of the companies on this list; virtually none of them would have come out of a university research lab. That's not a bad thing; arguably most of HN focuses on the "agile web startup that defines itself on execution" style of company. I personally wanted to work on something with a bit more intellectual substance; startups that focus on research and engineering (as opposed to social coupons or selling stylish eyeglasses online) tend to be near Boston/Austin/Seattle/SF.
Also note that tech journalism coming out of NYC has the finance/media/gov't/social slant as well; I tend to distrust the Times' technology reporting because it's going to inform me about Foursquare instead of a radical new GPS chip company. If the latter did come up, it would be viewed through the lens of investment and profit instead of the underlying tech.