New York Times:  Tax Credits Bring More TV Shows to New York City, by Dave Itzkoff:

The city expects 19 prime-time television series (up from 12 last year) to be produced in New York for the 2008-9 season, according to the mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting. They include NBC’s “30 Rock,” whose creator and star, Tina Fey, gave thanks in an Emmy acceptance speech on Sunday night to the New York tax discounts that made it viable to shoot in New York; Fox’s “Fringe” which, without the tax breaks, would have been shot in Toronto; HBO’s “In Treatment,” another recent transplant from Los Angeles; as well as forthcoming pilots on ABC, Showtime and USA.

The tax incentives have also been a financial boon to the city: the mayor’s office estimated that city-based shoots contributed $957 million in spending between April 23 and Sept. 23 of this year, an increase from $452 million during the same period last year.

[T]he city and state of New York were initiating measures to encourage more film and television shoots. In September 2004, George E. Pataki, then the governor, signed into law a program offering a 10 percent tax credit to companies shooting 75 percent of their productions in the state; in January 2005, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg approved a companion program that provided an additional 5 percent tax credit to productions in the city.

In April, after neighboring states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut created similar programs, offering tax credits as high as 25 or 30 percent, Gov. David A. Paterson signed a law increasing the New York State credit to 30 percent. New York City added free outdoor marketing, on the sides of buses, for example, and discounts with nearby vendors. More studio space was built in Brooklyn and Queens.