ON TOP ■CHECK THIS OUT Falchi Building Image courtesy of Jamestown Popular Mechanics features Queens in ‘BEST STARTUP CITIES IN AMERICA’ list BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA Queens has not only been named the number one destination to visit in the U.S. but, according to one magazine, it’s also among the top places in the country to start a business. In its February issue, currently on newsstands, Popular Mechanics has selected Queens as one of the “14 best startup cities in America.” “No disrespect to San Francisco or Brooklyn, but we wanted to identify the next wave of cities building an ecosystem to turn innovators into entrepreneurs,” the magazine’s editors wrote. Coming in at number 12, Queens was selected for offering lower rents than its outerborough neighbor to the south, which often overshadows it. The publication highlights QNS Collective, a co-working space that opened in Astoria in 2013, and nonprofit Coalition for Queens for supporting local tech startups. It also mentions Long Island City’s renovated Falchi Building, home to Coalition for Queens, The Food Box, Lyft’s New York City operations and other businesses with room for more tenants. One new business that kicked off in the last year took advantage of the co-working spaces in the area. Long Island City resident Alex Jae Mitchell founded Audiokite.com nine months ago and a month later launched out of a co-working space in Astoria, Create NY Space. His website offers independent musicians feedback on their songs from the public. Mitchell, speaking to The Courier last year about why he decided to launch his business in Queens, said cheaper rent was a motivating factor. “The low rent costs help me put everything I have into my business,” he said. Other locations on Popular Mechanics’ list include St. Louis, Mo.; Asheville, N.C.; Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Maine; Baltimore, Md.; Holyoke, Mass.; Boulder, Colo.; Reno, Nev.; Des Moines, Iowa; Cleveland, Ohio; Urbana, Ill.; Detroit, Mich.; and Austin, Texas.
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