NYC economy always affects LI -- for better or worse
Delayed commuters wait for a 7:32 a.m. train to Penn Station at the LIRR's Ronkonkoma train station. (Aug. 24, 2010) Credit: James Carbone
For all the change that's taken place in Long Island's economy and all that is still to come, one thing will never change: It will always be right next to New York City, the most dominant economy in the nation.
And for that reason, Long Island economists said, New York will always have significant economic influence on its oldest suburb.
"A suburb is, by definition, a satellite of a city," said Irwin Kellner, chief economist of MarketWatch. Although Long Island was initially heavily dependent on the city economically, it has matured into "a region of its own," he said.
That's especially true for the center of the Island. Most of Nassau is still influenced by the city because it borders Queens, while the East End's tourism industry is city-related, too, he said.
About 180,000 Long Islanders - 20 percent of the workforce - commute to the city every day, mostly from Nassau County, said Martin Cantor, director of the Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute at Dowling College.
Those people bring their dollars back to spend on Long Island. "You always want that," Cantor said.
Especially because of who the commuters are, said Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association, the region's leading business group.
"These are generally the highest-paying jobs," she said. Many of those commuters work on Wall Street, in law firms and at accounting firms. It's possible that Wall Street will decentralize, as some more of its jobs may move to New Jersey or elsewhere in the world, but Kamer said the city will provide other good jobs in international trade and business services.
"Looking ahead, I really see more of the same," Kellner said. "Whatever influence there is . . . I don't see anything happening to change it."
