<p>NEW YORK – To stem the tide of employers relocating from lower Manhattan, the state of New York and New York City are offering selected firms portions of $500 million in incentives. The $500 million comes from federal aid, allocated after Sept. 11′s terrorist attacks to preserve the strength of the financial district. According to the city's Deputy Mayor for Economic Development/Rebuilding Daniel Doctoroff, the incentives are targeting corporations and financial institutions with over 200 employees. Letters will be sent to approximately 150 companies to offer assistance that can be used to make it cheaper to live and work in the area. "For too long, New York City has treated its tax-paying, job-creating corporations as hostile invaders," said Doctoroff in a statement. "The Bloomberg administration is committed to completely reversing that. We've changed the way in which we think about government, the way it deals with big companies, the way it deals with residents, and, to some extent, the way it deals with small businesses."</p>