Yesterday NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the commencement speech at Stanford University. “Without Stanford, there is no Silicon Valley and without Silicon Valley, there is no tech revolution, no information revolution, no communications revolution – at least not as we know it Bloomberg stressed -. Stanford’s incubation of Silicon Valley is fitting, because Leland Stanford was a pioneer himself. He followed the Gold Rush to California – just as so many enterprising young people are moving here, and to New York City, to be a part of the tech boom.”

Bloomberg recalled that Stanford was initially supposed to build the new Tech campus on Roosevelt Island: “We had hoped that Stanford itself might help lead our tech boom in New York City. That didn’t work out – no hard feelings – but I think in the end, it will. Because I believe that more and more Stanford graduates will find themselves moving to Silicon Alley, not only because we’re the hottest new tech scene in the country, but also because there’s more to do on a Friday night than go to the Pizza Hut in Sunnyvale and you may even be able to find a date with a girl whose name is not Siri.” How cool is that?!

And Bloomberg added: “Stanford graduates thrive in New York City – because both places thrive on innovation and entrepreneurialism. If companies founded by Stanford alumni were to form an independent nation, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world.” The Mayor’s hope is that Cornell NYC Tech will play the same role in NYC as Stanford in Silicon Valley.