You could say I was a dog (well, maybe a newshound) with a bone this week.

Last Sunday, the New York Times ran another one of its Alley-is-Dead-themed articles. This one basically equated DoubleClick's decision to take down its "Welcome to Silicon Alley" billboard as proof that the Alley as a term for the New York region's digital media sector is dead.

I took issue in a viewpoint. Judging by the feedback that came in this week, I wasn't the only one.

One reader, however, wrote to say that I should basically hang up the argument because after so many dot-coms went under or just quietly folded their tents and left town, the Alley as we knew it, pre-2000, really should be considered dead.

That's not what the New York City Comptroller's office thinks.

According to the office's February Economic Notes report, the dot-com sector, "which was the most important generator of new NYC jobs from 1995 to 2000, showed some faint signs of life during the fourth quarter of 2001."

After so much growth, the report said -- and as many readers know well, so-called dot-com the sector went into decline starting in January 2000, as illustrated by an equity index developed by the office of the Comptroller called the Alley index.

The Alley 20 Index, which measures the average equity value of the largest NYC-based dot-coms, averaged 19.5 (with the index set with June 2000 equal to 100) in fourth quarter 2001.

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This represents a drop of nearly one-half of the market capitalization of these companies (i.e. an index value of 38.8) from fourth quarter 2000, the report says. If there was a prize for troubled sectors, this one would get the award.

During the same fourth quarter of 2001 in which payroll jobs in the city fell by a record 88,900, and in which 50,000 New York City residents lost their jobs (the biggest decline since 1977) much if not all related to the fallout from Sept. 11, the dot-com sector managed to show a "slight uptick." It's worth noting.

The companies that make up the Alley index are:

DLJ direct; DoubleClick; Barnesand noble.com; Juno; Mapquest; iVillage.com; Razorfish; Multex; Alloy Online; Stock Point; Theglobe.com; Star Media; TheStreet.com; and Miningco (which became About.com, which is now owned by Primedia); EarthWeb; Fashionmall.com, Wit Capital; iTurf; Media Metrix and Mail.com.

Of course, the folks in the Comptroller's office are in the process of updating the list to reflect the companies that have been sold (iTurf), merged (Juno), delisted (starmedia) or are just a shadow of their former selves (TheGlobe). And with some on the list in delisting territory, it might not hurt to add companies not on the list that also sprouted in the mid-1990s such as Internet Commerce Group (TICKER:ICCA) and FindWhat (TICKER:FWAT).

Another interesting statistic from the Comptroller's office: Between 1980 and 1997, the number of computer-related or software firms alone went from 563 to 3013.

I'm told the city is working on a more comprehensive report on how many jobs in the dot-com sector that left or disappeared in the last year and a half, but when it would be released is anyone's guess.

While we wait for those numbers, consider this observation of recent discussions on the 2,500-member World Wide Web Artists Consortium mailing list.

Peter Shankman, a WWWAC board member, says he remembers how back in 1998, 1999, many posts were about jobs and more jobs in the sector. Then in 2000, we watched the discussion list shift to coping methods, and freelance issues, and queries about jobs, as the implosion hit. Although plenty of shutdown discussions thread their way through the member list, the bulk of the discussions now reflect where technology and Web culture is going too.

Onward, upward, with the occasional sidways step, as one reader put it.

And if Silicon Alley as a movement is dead, somebody forgot to tell the Silicon Alley Entrepreneur's Club (SAEC). The networking group for entrepreneurs said it has signed up more than 4,500 members since it launched in 1999 as a discussion group.

Ask anyone who saw the size of the attendance at the New York Software Industry Summit on March 8th and you'll hear a similar story about how things are slowly beginning to turn around.

So what's to take from all this?

As women are wont to say, you're either pregnant or you're not. Folks, there are signs of life in New York's digital media and technology sector. And I know, I know: nuff said. (*Erin Joyce (a href="mailto:ejoyce@internet.com">ejoyce@internet.com) covers the diminished Silicon Alley scene while keeping an eye on media giants whose feet are in the New York region.)