Staten Island's North Shore Pitches Itself as the City's Next Business Frontier
Cheaper space and a ferry ride to Lower Manhattan are drawing companies to a waterfront long overlooked by the rest of the city.
Staten Island has spent decades as an afterthought in conversations about New York's economy. Its North Shore is trying to change that, marketing cheap commercial space and a free ferry to the Financial District as an unbeatable combination.
Development around the St. George terminal has added office and retail space, and a handful of firms have taken the bait. The fictional accounting group Harborline relocated from Lower Manhattan and says it cut occupancy costs by more than half without losing its downtown clients.
Skeptics note that transit beyond the ferry remains thin, a persistent drag on growth. Still, borough officials see a rare opening: a New York waterfront that businesses can actually afford.
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