Have you seen a California cafe'? I can't really recall seeing anything comparable in Manhattan. Sure, there are cafes....but one where a guy is writing a Rails app on his laptop right there by the barista? Have trouble believing it...be glad to be proven wrong though.
I'm actually not so down on NYC. Just the tech part of it. Part of me is scheming about how to get back there...
I definitely agree the NYC startup scene is overhyped - this is the city of hype and startups are now cool by New York Magazine standards. But man, your view of NYC in general seems much shaped by a very specific social circle and long hours at GS ;)
(Btw, Esperanto is cited in the footnotes of the post. It's since closed, at least according to Yelp.)
Berkeley (pop. 169,000) has you beat for sheer number of cafes (Berkeley Espresso, Brewed Awakenings, Yali's, Au Coquelet, Caffe Roma, etc.).
A complete list for SF would go on for quite a while....
I stand by my point (excusing a bit of blog-y hyperbole, of course).
Surprise!! Cafes!! Everywhere!!
Surely more than 5 of those have coders at work.
I lived there from 2000-2004 and this point wrung completely hollow for me. If you don't think NYC has "cafes" then you are not in NYC.