Back when we were in the midst of the Great Recession, many groups thought New York City would lag behind the rest of the nation when it came to recovering. What ended up happening, though, was that the city recovered faster than anyone had expected. Why? Because of a surge in technology companies in Manhattan and Brooklyn that have spurred job growth and innovation. 

This was covered in a report commissioned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s private foundation. The report, "Building a Digital City: the Growth and Impact of New York City’s Tech / Information Sector," covers just how New York was able to pull off its own startup culture, one that seems to be rivaled only by San Francisco's own scene. As of 2013, the tech and information industry is the second-largest contributor to the private sector in terms of wages in NYC. And though growth is mostly centralized in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Queens is also beginning to boom. There are about 265,000 well-paying jobs in tech, which has grown about 11-percent since the economy crashed in 2007. The tech industry brings in about $30 billion in annual wages, while, of course, the financial sector reels in a cool $90 billion to claim the title of NYC's most dominant sector.

"New York City rapidly reinvented itself as a world-class, urban tech / information hub, uniting tech startups with world-class publishing, media, design, and entertainment companies," the study says. "Now, the New York tech / information sector is a critical engine to the city’s economy, creating thousands of jobs and supporting economic growth across the city."

Established tech companies like Yahoo, Google, Amazon and Facebook have New York-based branches, and other startups like Buzzfeed, Mashable, and Etsy have their roots in the city. "New York has long been recognized as the capital of finance, fashion, media, and the arts," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 

"We now have the numbers to demonstrate what has become increasingly clear: New York is the country's hottest and most dynamic tech capital. We've worked to foster the tech industry's growth here, and that's one reason why New York City has been a national leader in job creation."

[via The Verge]