New York City is known for a lot of different things. One of the things that New York City is most famous for is the long list of well respected inventors that have called the city home over the years. Many inventors that have changed the world came out of New York City. Also, many of the most widely used products in the world were invented in New York City by New Yorkers. The following is a short list of some of the more widely acclaimed inventors to come out of New York City.

George Herman Babcock

Mr. Babcock was a mechanical engineer from New York City. He was born in 1832 and he was the 6th president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and had many patents. He patented quite a few different types of pumps and steam engines. Despite his many accomplishments, he’s best known for his invention of a specialized water boiler. The boiler was a unique “tube” design that avoided the explosions that were far too common at the time with most boilers. This design was used for everything from steam heating to steam power. The business he created has sustained throughout the years to become a multifaceted energy concern. The company that Babcock created is now heavily involved in the development of nuclear power and nuclear technologies.

Numerous entrepreneurs either come from or live and work in New York City. These are examples of just three who are famous throughout the world.

Josephine Esther Mentzer—Estée Lauder—was born in Queens, New York in 1946 and learned assertive selling techniques, promotion of quality in products, attention to the appearance of the product, and perfectionism from helping in her father’s hardware store. She acquired her skills in producing lotions and skin creams from an uncle who was a famous European skin specialist. As his apprentice, she helped him develop new products using natural ingredients.

She married Joseph Lauder and they founded Estée Lauder, Inc. in 1946. The initial beauty products they created were skin treatments, rouge, and makeup. Advertising agencies didn’t want the account with its budget of only $50,000. The Lauders decided to provide samples to those attending fashion shows and through mailings. It worked well to establish their company. By 1973 they had sales of $100,000 and employed 1,000+ people. Sales of cosmetics and fragrances by Estée Lauder became international by 1960.

When most people think of the fashion industry, they think about New York. The fashion industry is a vital part of New York City. The city has more headquarters of fashion retailers and designers than any other city in the country. The city is at the center of American fashion offering large pools of unmatched talent. New York is home to more than 75 leading fashion shows and thousands of showrooms. New York attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. The nation’s leading fashion schools are also located in New York.

The fashion industry emerged in New York City in the 1800’s, when the city was a hub of clothing manufacturing activity. Now the industry is the most prominent sector in New York. It is one of the small numbers of industries that compel considerable wholesale activity, direct employment and visitor spending. New York City has always been the preeminent capital of global fashion and serves as the headquarters to more than 875 fashion companies and hosts one of the four major biannual fashion weeks.

New York shopping is a popular and a dearly loved pastime for both visitors and residents. There are enough retail stores to keep even the most devoted shoppers extremely busy. New York City is a Mecca for discerning fashionistas and clothing connoisseurs. The city has an undeniable appeal for shoppers from around the globe. In New York, when it comes to shopping your options are limitless, it is a shopper’s paradise.

The retail industry in the United States is vast. More than 14 million individuals are employed by retailers. That is more than 12 percent of the entire workforce. In the United States, there are over 1 million retail businesses currently in operation with a total of 4.7 trillion dollars in sales.

New York City is arguably the fashion capital of the world. The retail industry based there generates over 13 million dollars in sales, annually. From sales clerks to warehouse workers, there are over 270,000 New Yorkers, who work in retail establishments. This figure excludes drinking and eating establishments. The sector accounts for approximately 7.6 percent of the city’s total employment. In New York, you will find many of the best retail stores in the world. It is an amazing place for shopping.

Central Park is an 843 acre public green space that is situated in the very center of Manhattan. It sits on public land owned by the city and is designated as a National Historic Landmark. Despite this designation, the park is not primarily funded by the government or staffed by civil employees. It is instead primarily funded and staffed through the Central Park Conservancy. The Conservancy is a non-profit organization that is responsible for contributing roughly 85% of the yearly budget to maintain Central Park. The Conservancy also employs nearly 80% of the park’s staff.

History

Central Park was not originally a part of the development scheme of New York City. In the early 1800s, the population of the city was not expected to expand so fast as to necessitate a designated public park space. However, the population explosion in New York of the mid-1800s led to a growing need for an open public space where people could escape the noise and chaos of city life. In 1853, the state legislature set aside 700 acres of land for use as the new grand park space of New York City. This was due primarily to extensive lobbying by wealthy New York City residents and many articles written on the subject in the New York Post. This led to the creation of the Central Park Commission that would be in charge of the park’s development.

New York City is known as the cultural epicenter of the western world. There are more artists here than can be found in nearly any other city in the world. As such, it stands to reason that there would be many different museums and libraries here. There are some museums and libraries that are almost a necessity in the itinerary of any visit to New York City.

The Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum is one of the most famous museums in the world and is renowned as one of the most significant buildings in New York City. The New York City branch of the Guggenheim, in Manhattan, is only one of many branches around the world. They carry everything here from film exhibits to modern art exhibits. The Guggenheim opened in 1959 and was designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

10. GE Building
The GE building is located in Midtown Manhattan, and is considered an art deco masterpiece. It is located specifically at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which has led to it being referred to “30 Rock” colloquially. The building is 850 feet tall, and is the 33rd tallest building in the entire United States. It is most famously the home of the television network NBC, and it has been featured prominently in many television shows and movies throughout the years.

9. Trump World Tower
Trump World Tower is a residential building, and it stands as the tallest all-residential building in both the city of New York and the United States as a whole. It is listed as the 79th tallest building in the world, and was widely opposed by many officials and television commentators in the lead-up to its construction. It has 72 floors, but there are 90 floor buttons on the elevator panels.

8. 8 Spruce Street
The 8 Spruce Street building is also known as “New York by Gehry” after its architect Frank Gehry. The building is 870 feet tall, and is built with a unique glass/steel facade that resembles rippling water. 8 Spruce Street functions as a residential building, with 898 units being housed within its walls.

7. Citigroup Center
The Citigroup Center building is commonly referred to as simply “601 Lexington Avenue”, and was opened in 1977. An air of controversy surrounded the construction of the building when it was discovered that the building was constructed with an engineering flaw. Engineers did not account for “quartered” wind pressure, on the building, resulting in a 160% greater amount of pressure on joints than was intended.

6. 40 Wall Street
40 Wall Street is a 70 story skyscraper in Manhattan. The building was designed by H. Craig Severance, with construction being completed in 1930. One of the most interesting aspects of this building is that construction was completed after only 11 months. It was the tallest building in the world for only one month, when it was beaten out in height by the Chrysler Building.

5. American International Building
The American International Building was constructed in 1932 to serve as an office center. The building was constructed by the Cities Service Company with many design elements that are intended to portray the building as a snow-capped mountain. As a result, the building was originally known as the Cities Service Building, and has been the tallest building in the downtown area for much of the past 100 years.

4. New York Times Building
One of the youngest buildings in the New York City skyline, the New York Times Building is actually home to a number of different publishing companies. It also serves as an office center for other, non-publishing related businesses. Completed in 2007, the building cost $850 million. It has 52 floors, however some of the floors are taller than traditional floors to accommodate for retail space.

3. Chrysler Building
The Chrysler building was completed in 1930, and it is known as one of the largest examples of art deco that can be found in the world. It was the tallest building in the world in the 11 months between its completion and that of the Empire State Building. It was paid for entirely out of pocket by Walter Chrysler so that his children would inherit it after he died.

2. Bank of America Tower
The Bank of America Tower cost upwards of $1 billion to complete, and is one of the most uniquely designed buildings dominating the Manhattan skyline. After its completion in 2009, the tower was profiled on the National Geographic program “Megastructures”. In 2010, it was named the “Best Tall Building in the Americas” by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

1. Empire State Building
The Empire State Building was the tallest building in New York City until the completion of the World Trade Center. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, the Empire State Building was once again the tallest building in New York. It is designed in the art deco style, and is considered a cultural icon of New York, which has bestowed “landmark” status to it.

If you have ever wondered about the cleanliness standards of your local burger joint, deli or pizza parlor you will be pleased to know you can now check before heading out to eat, although you may wish you were still innocently oblivious.

Every year the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene makes surprise checks on each restaurant in the New York City area, including Manhattan’s Chelsea, Midtown and Theatre Districts, to ensure their sanitation standards are of an acceptable level. Each dining establishment is then rated from an A to C grade by the New York City Department of Health inspectors.

We would certainly advise you check the interactive NYTimes restaurant ratings map before eating anywhere in New York, as it shows how many violations each restaurant has committed along with information on dining establishments with pest or insect infestations! The restaurant ratings map is updated every couple of weeks so you can keep an eye on what’s going on in your neighborhood and you can search by cuisine, grade and violation type.

The New York City Health Department inspectors check a number of issues, including food temperature, food handling and personal hygiene of staff, pest control and improper use of chemicals. Each restaurant is then given a letter grade that corresponds to the level they have been judged at, along with a description of any violations.

According to the The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, violations fall into three different categories, public health hazards, critical violations and general violations. Public health hazards are given a minimum of seven points and a restaurant may be closed down by the Health Department until the issue is resolved. A critical violation is given a minimum of five points and a general violation will receive a minimum of two points.

References: NYTimes and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Every year, PricewaterhouseCoopers hires on about 2800 interns, and they pay very handsomely as far as internships go. They may not pay the most, but they are one of the most sought after internships in the entire country, let alone New York City. Most of the popularity is due to the fact that PricewaterhouseCoopers has kept much more respectability during the housing and financial crisis than other accounting firms in New York City. PricewaterCooper has its head offices  in Manhattan.

Ernst and Young

The Ernst and Young internship is highly prized, with one of the higher hourly wages of the New York City internships on this list. They pay a total of $9000 for the duration of the internship, and a whopping 98% of their interns go on to find full time employment. They hire around 2200 interns a year and you can apply for the internship through their website.

Deloitte and Touche

The third accounting firm on this list, Deloitte and Touche is one of the lesser known accounting businesses offering internships on this list. While they may not be well known, their internship is one of the most sought after in the city, with almost 1200 interns taken on every year. You can apply for the internship via their website or contact them at their offices in the Garment District.

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is the infamous investment banking firm that just about everyone has heard of by now. Despite their history, Goldman Sachs has remained one of the most highly prized internships in the city, and offers some of the hightest pay out of all the internships here. They hire very selectively, so you should apply at their website as soon as applications are accepted. Goldman Sachs head offices can be found in the Wall Street area.

KPMG

KPMG, situated in Midtown Manhattan, is another accounting firm, and it offers quite a few benefits that make it very popular to those seeking out an internship. KPMG’s internship program pays about $8500 for the term, and comes with a notoriously high level of on-the-job training. People mostly come to KPMG for the experience it provides with its internship, and you can apply through your school or their website.

JP Morgan

As an investment bank, JP Morgan has grown into one of the most powerful businesses in the world. The interns at JP Morgan benefit from the highest pay of any other intern in New York City, raking in almost $15000 after their internship. This high pay means that they expect the best, and the application process for this internship is extremely strict. If you want to get into this internship, then you need to get your application in on time, without any errors. You can do this through their website.

Merrill Lynch

There are a lot of reasons that interns come to Merrill Lynch for their internship. One of the biggest reasons is honestly the exclusivity of the internship program. Merrill Lynch, with offices in the Theatre District, hires on some of the fewest interns of any other Investment Bank, but they pay handsomely at about $12000 for the internship.

Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers hires on a little over 500 interns for its program every year. Interns at Lehman Brothers can expect to make about $29 an hour here, which will work out to around $12000 for the duration of the internship. This is the highest hourly pay of any other internship in New York City. To apply, you can either go through your college career counselor or apply online directly through their website.

Accenture

Accenture is a consulting firm, and they have a competitive internship program that is the most popular in the city for consulting internships. They only hire on 125 interns a year in this work-oriented internship, and they pay handsomely for the internship. Their website is the best place to apply, since they are constantly changing the requirements for application.

L’Oreal USA

Famed consumer goods company L’Oreal hires on around 100 interns for its internship program. Their pay is classified as “mid-range” for the higher-end internships in New York City, with pay being around $10000 during the internship. The biggest perk of this internship is the experience it gives you working with an international consumer goods business, and the internship helps you to get accustomed to many aspects of doing business in this arena.