NYC fires shot at Silicon Valley tech dominance

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) is firing a shot across the bow of Silicon Valley, saying New York City's efforts to attract a new science and engineering campus will help the metropolis surpass the California region as the world capital of technology startups.

Mayor Bloomberg said he believes that in its first three decades the school could help launch 400 new companies and create more than 22,000 permanent jobs, as well as more than 7,000 construction jobs. The city plans to offer nearly-free real estate and up to $100 million in infrastructure upgrades to a university, institution or consortium that commits to creating what Mayor Bloomberg says will be a world-class science and engineering campus. The city's formal request for proposals was issued July 19. Stanford and Cornell universities and the University of Chicago have expressed interest in the deal, as have schools in Finland, India, Switzerland, Korea, the United Kingdom and Israel. Additionally, some institutions have formed partnerships as they consider the deal. One such group is made up of New York University, Carnegie Mellon, the City University of New York, the University of Toronto and IBM.