Dear Commons Community,

Whether crossing the street, parking a car or trying to get tickets for popular events, those of us who live and work in New York probably know well that ours is a most competitive city. A new study, conducted for Citigroup by the Economist Intelligence Unit, concluded that it is and will stay that way for at least another 12 years.

The study ranked 120 cities around the globe on their competitiveness, based on their ability to attract investments, workers and tourists, among other attributes.

New York ranked third among the cities in economic strength, the category given the most weight in the analysis. It ranked second in “institutional character,” a measure of order and political stability. The accumulation of the high rankings in various categories helped propel New York to the top of the list.

“New York is at the top of the list in terms of financial sophistication,” said Leo Abruzzese, global forecasting director for the Economist Intelligence Unit. New York “still remains in many ways the financial capital of the world.”

But Mr. Abruzzese added that the city’s economy is less reliant on one or two industries than many other big cities around the world. That economic diversity has given New York a big head start on many of the cities in emerging nations, but some of them are closing the gap, he said.

Congratulations New York!

Tony