Silicon Alley is a nickname for internet and new media
companies in Manhattan. Originally the term referred to the cluster of
such companies extending from the Flatiron District down to TriBeCa,
but as location of these companies spread out, the term more often referred
to any dot com company in New York City.
The term was in most common use in the late 1990s, when companies such as
Razorfish and Agency.com became local sucess stories with successful IPOs. The magazine
Silicon Alley Reporter, published 1996-2001, helped to popularize
both the name, and the idea of New York City as a dot com center.
The name is derived from Silicon Valley, California.
See also