Silicon Alley High

Anna L — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:04:24 -0400

It's been a decade since the Internet bubble burst, and most of us assumed New York's tech scene pretty much blew up along with it. Media and finance have always dominated the city, and Silicon Alley was seen as a second-rate Silicon Valley.

But in the past few years, as Wall Street and publishing have imploded, the city's tech community has quietly flowered. These days, it is a scene unto itself, fronted by a bevy of sexy young entrepreneurs (a handful of whom The Observer sat down with recently for a roundtable on the industry), and promising the kind of optimism and guts now absent from most of the city's other glossy industries.

In fact, Silicon Alley is probably better off today than at any time in its short life. Innovation has shifted from chips and hardware to software and design and social networking, where New York thrives. The city is awash in venture cash.

This is where it's happening in New York at the moment. And these are the people who are pulling it off.

Click on the links below to see each of our lists.

Click here to read our roundtable on the New York tech scene.

Board of Trustees: the funding

PTA: the older generation

Observer » Silicon Alley High

Silicon Alley High