New York in its essence, is a city of business. The Dutch East India company, first settling the island, established its reputation as a center of commerce. From the New Amsterdam of the past to the New York City of the present there have been many dynamic shifts in the purpose and the utility of the city. Yet in light of all these changes the simple fact remains that New York City has a strong economy backed by business. As the city grew and Brooklyn shed its agricultural landscape, the amount of people steadily increased, however, at a certain point the size of the city stagnated. The outer boroughs met their boundaries, and thus the capability of spreading out was eliminated. The city then had to build upwards, establishing places for people to live where once birds flew.
Fast forwarding to the present we see a new kind of business boom, forcing new changes. This is the tech boom, the latest and arguably most dramatic influx of new labor in the city, and all around the world. At the very least, the most dramatic in recent history. “New York City’s tech sector employed 117,147 people in 2014, a 71 percent increase from a decade earlier (68,571).” The sonorous BOOM of the tech industry is echoing all through the city, throughout seemingly unrelated sectors of metropolitan life. The numbers alone are astounding. The starting income of these individuals would impress mechanical engineers, and the sheer volume of work that has been created where previously there was none demands serious attention. This BOOM has great potential to destroy rather than clear the rubble allowing for greater development.
The boundary between destruction and production is very fine. The guardian of this boundary is of course, the citizens of New York City and their representative in government. A massive influx of work and capital can seem to have no repercussions, however, upon closer inspection it is clear that these changes in the city’s economy are affecting those with no ties to the benefits of new capital. These people are the lower and middle classes. The new capital and new high paying work is forcing those making less and paying less for housing to be deemed undesirable. Thus they are uprooted in order to have another tech worker live and pay more where that middle class worker once lived.
The people of New York City must be able to tame this unwieldy BOOM. This influx must be tamed and channeled into the bettering of the city, rather than the destruction. This sound must bend to the will of the populace bellowing consonance rather than economic dissonance. Unless it is decided that New York City should be thrall to economics.
Kevin, you’re right that New York is experiencing a tech boom and one of the downsides is a more costly life for everyone outside of that sector (and finance). But what specifically are the risks? Booms lead to busts–how could that happen? What would be the consequences for NY? Let’s see you confront more specifics from the reading assignments. The first paragraph of introduction is not needed, but more writing about specific conditions and their implications are needed.