Gotham mayor tops blog's list of NY tech influencers
For the past few weeks, New York's tech scene has been semi-quietly anticipating the Silicon Alley Insider's inaugural "Silicon Alley 100" list for 2007.
Local entrepreneurs and enthusiasts have recently traded plenty of jabs, guesses, and "if I make it to the list, you owe me a drink" bets. Nate Westheimer, founder of start-up BricaBox, even launched a "people's choice" version.
The full list is set to officially go live later Tuesday, but CNET News.com managed to dig it up before its official debut.
In the No. 1 spot? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself an entrepreneur and the 25th wealthiest man in America.
"Michael Bloomberg is so successful and influential, in fact, that he puts most of Wall Street's and Silicon Valley's titans to shame," the Alley Insider's description of the mayor reads. "His raw competence as a manager, leader, and communicator is an inspiration not only to the city's entrepreneurs and business leaders but to millions of other New Yorkers."
Bloomberg is also in the process of guiding New York through a high-profile environmental initiative, which includes replacing all the city's taxis with hybrid vehicles by 2012.
The rest of the Silicon Alley 100 list encompasses an array of young entrepreneurs, high-profile media and finance executives, business journalists, community leaders, high-profile bloggers, venture capitalists, and even a handful of political figures.
Yet suspiciously missing from the list were a handful of media figureheads, like News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch and Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington, both of whom many onlookers expected to see in the top 10. (Huffington's co-founder Ken Lerer was ranked #12.)
Additionally, plenty of buzzed-about start-up founders were also left off: Tumblr's David Karp, for example, or rapper-turned-DanceJam-founder MC Hammer--perhaps as a silent reminder that hype doesn't equal influence. These fledgling start-ups, the Alley 100 insinuates, are going to have to deliver real results first.
Regardless of who you think should or shouldn't be on the list, this New Yorker thinks it's great to see the local technology scene, from emerging start-ups to big media companies' digital initiatives, getting some well-deserved attention.
And here's the rest of the top 10:
• No. 10, former AOL exec and Pilot Group investor Bob Pittman.
• No. 9, Web veteran Esther Dyson. (The next highest-ranked female was Beth Comstock, president of NBC Universal integrated media, at No. 28).
• No. 8, CBS Interactive honcho Quincy Smith.
• No. 7, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton.
• No. 6, Google's president of advertising and commerce, Tim Armstrong.
• No. 5, Meetup and Fotolog co-founder and New York Tech Meetup leader Scott Heiferman.
• No. 4, Greycroft Partners founder and managing director Alan Patricof.
• No. 3, Union Square Ventures managing partner and popular blogger Fred Wilson.
• No. 2, InterActiveCorp mogul Barry Diller.
The Silicon Alley Insider was launched this summer, spearheaded by controversial former stock analyst Henry Blodget and former DoubleClick head Kevin Ryan--neither of whom made an appearance on the list, for obvious reasons.
Disclaimer: This reporter was named an "up-and-comer" by SAI. She's flattered. But, really, it must've been a typo.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
