Out of curiosity, if you were a foreign (but remote) startup looking to set up an office in the USA - would you recommend Boston? From the perspective of sales/finance, rather than technical, if that's important.
If you're looking to stay in the NYC region but don't need to be actually in NYC: Boston and Philadelphia have great startup communities and great transportation options.
Closer in to NYC: Stamford (lots of empty office space), Hartford (now semi–accessible to NYC by rail, plus an international airport), White Plains (easily accessible to NYC plus regional airport). NJ has a lot of office space along I–95 once you get out of the NYC metro area, but am uncertain on the rent.
I'm not familiar with the specifics of setting up an office, but from just a talent perspective, Boston has the benefit of having a large concentration of universities: Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, UMass...
That's a lot of new unemployed talent that (potentially) is looking for a career start in Boston. It is also more affordable and public transit is decent.
Closer in to NYC: Stamford (lots of empty office space), Hartford (now semi–accessible to NYC by rail, plus an international airport), White Plains (easily accessible to NYC plus regional airport). NJ has a lot of office space along I–95 once you get out of the NYC metro area, but am uncertain on the rent.