Economy of New York (state)

Lower Manhattan, the home of Wall Street, anchors New York City's role as the world's principal financial center.[10][11]

The East Side of Midtown Manhattan is the largest central business district in the world. Manhattan is the epicenter of the principal American metropolitan economy.[12]

New York City, characterized as the world's premier financial center,[13][14][15][11] and the surrounding New York metropolitan area dominate the economy of the state. Manhattan is the leading center of banking, finance, and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street. Many of the world's largest corporations locate their home offices in Manhattan or in nearby Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m²) of office space in 2015,[16] making it the largest office market in the United States,[17] while Midtown Manhattan, with nearly 400 million square feet (37.2 million m²) in 2015,[16] is the largest central business district in the world.[18] New York is a top-tier global high technology hub.[19]

Long Island has played a prominent role in scientific research and in engineering. It is the home of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Seven Nobel prizes have been awarded for work conducted at Brookhaven lab.[20]

Postcard showing the Great New York State Fair main entrance in the 1940s

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, opened eastern markets to Midwest farm products. The canal also contributed to the growth of New York City, helped create large cities, and encouraged immigration to the state. Except in the mountain regions, the areas between cities are agriculturally rich. The Finger Lakes region has orchards producing apples, which are one of New York's leading crops.[21] The state is known for wines produced at vineyards in the Finger Lakes region and Long Island. The state also produces other crops, especially grapes, strawberries, cherries, pears, onions, and potatoes. New York is a major supplier of maple syrup and is the third leading producer of dairy goods in the United States.[22]

According to the Department of Agriculture and Markets, New York's agricultural production returned more than $3.6 billion to the farm economy in 2005. 36,000 farms occupy 7.6 million acres or about 25 percent of the state's land area, to produce a variety of food products.[22] Here are some of the items in which New York ranks high nationally:

New York is an agricultural leader and is one of the top five states for agricultural products, including dairy, cattle, apples, cabbages, potatoes, beets, viticulture, onions, maple syrup and many others.[23] The state is the second largest producer of cabbage in the U.S.[22] The state has about a quarter of its land in farms and produced $3.4 billion in agricultural products in 2001. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach orchards. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain. The south shore of Lake Erie and the southern Finger Lakes hillsides have vineyards. New York is the nation's third-largest grape-producing state, after California and Washington.[22]

In 2017, New York State consumed 156,370-gigawatthours (GWh) of electrical energy. Downstate regions (Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island) consumed 66% of that amount. Upstate regions produced 50% of that amount. The peak load in 2017 was 29,699 MW. The resource capability in 2017 was 42,839 MW.[24][25] The NYISO's market monitor described the average all-in wholesale electric price as a range (a single value was not provided) from $25 per MWh to $53 per MWh for 2017.[26]

Solar power

This section is an excerpt from Solar power in New York.[edit]

Installing rooftop solar panels in Poughkeepsie

As of mid-2023, New York has over 4,717 MW of solar power installed, generating almost 5% of the state's electricity.[27]

New York has a renewable portfolio standard of 30% from renewable sources by 2015. In 2015 24% was renewable, 6% short of the goal. Wind is the predominant generating technology.[28] In 2018, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority awarded long-term contracts to 22 utility-scale solar farms, totaling a combined capacity of 646 MW.[29]

In 2012, LIPA adopted a Power Purchase Agreement (limited to 50 MW), which will pay $0.22/kWh for solar generation for installations ranging from 50 kW to 20 MW. A $500 to $5000 application fee favors larger power plants represents roughly the first 10 days of generation for a 50 kW to 500 kW system, but less than 2 hours of generation for a 20 MW installation. The term of the agreement is 20 years, and systems must be interconnected to the grid at the 13.2 kV level. Unlike the feed-in tariff programs in many other places, customers pay for their own electricity as if they were not generating any, making this actually a power purchase agreement, and not a feed-in tariff. LIPA owns the SRECs (which could be worth more than they are paying for the electricity).[30][31] A bill to establish SRECs in New York failed to pass in 2012.[32] 50 MW of solar power will meet the average needs of about 7,000 households, or less than 1% of the electricity supplied by LIPA. 5 MW is reserved for systems less than 150 kW, and 10 MW for systems from 150 to 500 kW. The remaining 35 MW is available to systems of all sizes. If fully subscribed in the first year, the average household will pay an estimated $0.44/month to pay for the program, which will generate an estimated 79.4 million kWh/year. Estimated costs are based on an average avoided cost rate of $0.075/kWh, although peak generation costs can exceed $0.22/kWh, eliminating any cost.[33] LIPA's total generation capacity, in 2011, was 6,800 MW.[34]

In 2023, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority approved 14 new large-scale solar projects, totaling more than 1 gigawatt of capacity.[35]