I think SF is very similar to NYC in the sense that it offers the cultural variety young people want. SF has better weather (except for this damn fog) but for the most part New York has an even bigger cultural draw than SF. The problem is that the universities it has, namely Columbia and NYU, are not in the same league as MIT, Stanford, or Berkeley for engineering, despite being very good schools. Secondly, and more importantly, NYC just doesn't have the same techy density, but it sounds like it's getting there and this could be the sort of initiative to put it over the top.