Yelp opens New York office, joining the city's exploding tech scene

The unveiling of Yelp’s East Coast headquarters in Union Square Wednesday earned the consumer review website a five-star rating from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said it burnishes the Big Apple’s rep as a tech powerhouse.

“This is the latest proof that New York is on its way to becoming a
No. 1 digital hub,” Bloomberg said at a news conference at the company’s expanded Fifth Avenue digs.

Twitter also opened a New York office this month, following Facebook and Google.

Yelp, a Silicon Valley startup, now has about 65 jobs in the city, adding to its more than 900 employees, said CEO Jeremy Stoppelman.

He said he was inspired to help start the company in 2004 as an online Yellow Pages after needing to locate a doctor. The site attracted 60 million users last year, and New Yorkers are among the most active, Stoppelman said.

Tech expert Shelly Palmer said that while the high-paying engineer jobs are still typically relegated on the West Coast, the fact that these companies recognize they need a New York presence is a big deal.

“To make New York the digital capital of the world, you must attract Facebook and Google and Yelp and those names. We’re getting closer,” Palmer said.