NYC and SF are places that attract people from all over the world. The local talent pool is dwarfed by the worldwide talent pool. They even draw talent from each other.
So really it's a question of whether finance is drawing people away from entrepreneurship in general. Given that finance is the most reliable road to riches these days, I'd say certainly it is, but entrepreneurship offers far more in the way of creative rewards and the opportunity to "change the world".
NYC's competitiveness with the valley probably doesn't have much to do with how much money or respect is in finance. Rather it's about the quality of the ecosystem for entrepreneurship. NYC could easily become competitive with SV without Wall Street having to take any hit at all. If the absolute opportunity for entrepreneurship were better in NYC then it would be just as attractive to potential entrepreneurs, except for the few who want to be "big fish", but that type of attitude is not conducive to success as an entrepreneur anyway.
So really it's a question of whether finance is drawing people away from entrepreneurship in general. Given that finance is the most reliable road to riches these days, I'd say certainly it is, but entrepreneurship offers far more in the way of creative rewards and the opportunity to "change the world".
NYC's competitiveness with the valley probably doesn't have much to do with how much money or respect is in finance. Rather it's about the quality of the ecosystem for entrepreneurship. NYC could easily become competitive with SV without Wall Street having to take any hit at all. If the absolute opportunity for entrepreneurship were better in NYC then it would be just as attractive to potential entrepreneurs, except for the few who want to be "big fish", but that type of attitude is not conducive to success as an entrepreneur anyway.