Many New York firms have moved to the suburbs. That explains part of this phenomenon. But there is a more important reason, I think, why New York is so far behind. That reason is Madison Avenue culture. Mass marketing is centered in New York, and mass marketing is really the opposite of database marketing.
Old cultures die hard.
Marketers in New England, Virginia and the mid-west are closer to their customers than are the high priests of Madison Avenue. Here is another interesting picture. Telephone companies are deeply into database marketing. It is not surprising to see the main competitors studying this discipline. They use their databases every day to deal with churn and intense competition.