Every time you turn around, it seems New York City is receiving more good news. In June, Crain's New York Business proclaimed that the City is again nearing the record-breaking job gains of the previous two years.

In August, NYC & Company announced that the number of domestic and international visitors traveling to the city reached its highest level ever in 1999, and the city remains the number-one overseas tourist destination.
Last week, a Zagat survey revealed that American travelers voted New York the best city in the country to visit -- for the first time since the survey started in 1987.

And in Fortune magazine's November 27th issue, New York City is ranked as the number-one place for business in North America. This is the second time in four years that the City has claimed the top spot. In 1997, Fortune ranked New York as the most improved city for business in North America, following the dramatic turnaround of the City under our administration.

Being named "The Best City for Business" is great news for New York, and further proof that it is a great place for businesses to grow and prosper. I'm pleased that Fortune magazine continues to recognize the remarkable change that has occurred in our city over the past seven years.

Today, New York serves as a model for other cities in the nation and around the world of how innovative government can provide businesses with the opportunity and the confidence to grow.

We've made targeted tax cuts -- cutting the unincorporated business tax, the hotel occupancy tax, the sales tax on clothing and the commercial rent tax - to save businesses and individuals more than $2.5 billion.

We've shown that tax cuts, combined with fiscally responsible policies, result in broad private-sector job growth. In 1999, the City created 83,000 new private-sector jobs -- more new jobs than at any time since records began to be kept in 1953. Since 1994, the City has created 422,000 new private sector jobs, a dramatic reversal after the City's loss of 348,000 jobs in the early 1990s.

Because of the change in the business climate, we have not only been able to retain the Mercantile Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, but to acquire NASDAQ as well. These steps assure that New York City will remain the business capital of the world well into the 21st Century.

We think of New York City as the financial capital of the world, and the publishing capital, but we don't always think of the city as the capital of compassion -- and it is. We care about people more, and in many ways, both the government and the private organizations in the city do more to help people than any other place in the country.

For the 17th year, the City is teaming up with the Daily News and City Harvest to launch the annual Daily News Readers Care to Feed the Hungry Canned Food Drive that will collect non-perishables from November 13 to December 31.

City police precincts and firehouses, as well as many churches, synagogues, schools, entertainment venues and workplaces, will open their doors as City Harvest collection sites in every community. The lobby of the Daily News and all Modell's Sporting Goods stores in the city will also serve as drop-off points.

Not only is this the largest single food drive in New York, but City Harvest is the largest and oldest food rescue organization in the world. All of the food collected goes to shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries in all five boroughs.

I want to encourage all New Yorkers to participate. In coming together for this drive, we can make the holiday season a little brighter for the neediest New Yorkers.