Air Pollution

According to the city government of New York, air pollutants contribute to roughly 6 percent of deaths city-wide on an annual basis. Due to this, air pollution is taken very seriously in the city and there are a number of programs in place to lessen air pollution.

One way that business owners can lessen their air pollution imprint on the city is by taking part in the CATS system. CATS stands for “Clean Air Tracking System” and it monitors the installation of boilers around the city. CATS standards tell you what boilers you can install that are in line with current New York City air quality standards. The New York City division of Environmental Protection has a number of resources you can use to learn about this.

Water Pollution

The waters surrounding New York City are often seen as unfit to swim in. This largely depends on where you are in the city, and there are a number of beaches in the vicinity that are perfectly safe to use. To help mitigate some of the water quality issues the city faces in its immediate vicinity, there are a number of protocols in place to keep things tidy.

One thing the city is doing to lower its water pollution imprint is to implement a few specialized measures to reduce toxic runoff. The city is encouraging the use of green roofs, porous sidewalks, and strategically planted tress or shrubs. The idea is that these things will retain water and keep it from running off into surrounding waterways. Since roofs and streets often carry a large number of petrochemicals, this has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of toxic runoff getting into New York’s waterways. Business owners are especially encouraged to develop a green roof system, which the city will help with if necessary.

Noise Pollution

People often overlook the impact of noise pollution on the health and well-being of citizens. Despite this, the city understands the impact that constant noise can have on the health of New Yorkers, and is implementing a few measures to help reduce noise pollution.

In the workplace, employers are being inundated with complaints over speech privacy at work. As a result, many employers are implementing noise-dampening technologies in the office that help lower the din of office chatter. They are also implementing lower-noise HVAC units that allow workers to more easily remain on task.

The Importance of a Professional Meeting Venue

When you are having a big meeting, seminar, or other important business event, you need to make sure that you’re holding it somewhere that exudes professionalism. After all, the places you choose to hold major meetings in say a lot about the success of your business. If you want to impress your clients or business partners, then you should take a moment to look into these great venues.

TKP New York Conference Center

The TKP is a brand new conference center opening up in the heart of Manhattan. Thanks to its unique location, people attending your big meeting will have an immense range of lodging, food and entertainment choices when meetings are not in session. This is especially great when you are holding longer seminar or conference events.

One of the major benefits that this event offers is the sheer scale of its facilities. Anyone who’s visited midtown Manhattan knows how small and space-efficient the meeting rooms are there. After all, you need to use space wisely when you’re building onto an island with a population of millions. This venue provides some of the most spacious meeting space in the city, all with a wonderful view overlooking the lights and sounds of Manhattan.

The NYC Seminar and Conference Center

This is one of the most trusted and well-reviewed meeting venues in the entire city, and that’s for good reason. Located in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Flatiron District, this conference center has a large variety of lodging options for anyone attending your seminar, meeting, or conference.

The technical support offered by the staff here is also second to none. The professional technicians here will work with you ahead of time, ensuring that you have everything you need for a seamless event. This will help you to easily get your technical issues handled before they ever become a problem. You also have access to this technical support throughout your event if you need any assistance.

Downtown Conference Center at Pace University

This conference center is another great option for people who need a little more space in their meeting area. The larger-than-average meeting spaces available through this event center are large enough to accommodate all sizes of groups. The tech support on site is top-notch, which is great if you are doing a lot of presentations or speeches during your meeting.

The space has roughly 20,000 square feet of meeting space for you to take advantage of. Touch pad remotes help you to wirelessly and seamlessly integrate your presentation into the built-in computer system. All in all, this is a great event space for any event you can imagine.

Find the Right Place

When you are searching for an event space for your next meeting, make sure to keep your presentation and size needs in mind. If you need a large space, you’ll have to specifically search for that because it’s not very common. If you want tech support on-hand throughout the event, you need to specifically seek that out as well.

Alternate Side Parking

One popular method New York City uses to keep parking organized is called alternate side parking. This city-wide measure requires drivers to park on the side of the street that corresponds to the day of the week. On odd-numbered days, drivers need to park on the side of the street where the addresses have odd numbers. On even-numbered days, drivers need to park on the side of the street that has even-numbered addresses. By using this parking plan, the city stops people from parking on both sides of the street and creating a bottleneck on smaller side streets.

Metered Parking

Parking meters are ubiquitous in New York City and should always be properly filled. New York City employs a brigade of traffic enforcement officers whose sole duty is to find people who don’t fill their meters. In some cities, you can get away with not paying the meter when you’re just running into a store to grab something quickly. In New York City, you should always pay the meter even if you won’t be in the spot for long enough to get your money’s worth.

Parking for Work

Parking on the street isn’t always optimal for people who will be leaving their cars alone for an extended period of time. Thankfully, there are a number of parking options for people who need to park indoors. Parking garages are common in New York City, and often have agreements in place with local businesses to provide lower fees to certain employees. If necessary, you can park on the street when you go to work. However, you should always park in areas that will remain well-lit once the sun goes down.

Desperate Measures

If you are in town for a business meeting and find yourself running late, you may find yourself having trouble finding parking. When in this position, it is best to find a nice hotel within a mile of your meeting place and have valet service take your car for you. It will be much more expensive than paying a meter or using a parking garage, but it gets the job done.

Parking is Tough in New York City

New York is an enormous city that needs to take parking seriously. If you follow the rules and play it safe, you’ll rarely ever have to worry about parking.

Violence Prevention

When a lot of people think about workplace safety and health, they only ever think of getting sick or injured on the job. Many completely overlook the reality of workplace violence as a health and safety issue. However, there are many instances every year where people are assaulted at work.

In New York, there are a few different regulations on the books that help protect employees from violence. One important regulation requires employers to make high-risk areas more visible to more people. This means that a dark corner in the parking lot can be reported. Employers are required to provide lighting and visibility of all areas of the workplace to help discourage violence against employees.

Air Quality Regulations

In New York, there are statewide and OSHA-based safety protocols to protect air quality. At the state level, aggressive asbestos plans are in place to protect against mesothelioma. There are many buildings that still contain asbestos, and the asbestos only becomes dangerous once it is turned into an aerosol powder during construction. This is why workers may find that they have to work elsewhere during construction in some office buildings.

OSHA has standards for everything involved with office air quality. One of the most stringent is involved with the filtration of air and the efficiency of HVAC appliances. HVAC appliances need to meet efficiency standards set forth by the federal government. Filters need to be changed regularly to protect air quality indoors.

Regulatory Bodies

In New York, businesses are regulated at the city, state, and federal level. Each area of the state has more or less strict requirements for safety and health considerations. New York City generally has more intrusive, constricting, and strict regulations than the majority of New York state.

On the state level, workers can contact the New York State Department of Labor, Division of Safety and Health. The officials here will be able to direct you toward more regulations on workplace safety and health that are specific to New York. You will also get a better understanding of how New York applies these laws and how they are enforced.

For national regulations, workers should contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. OSHA oversees the creation and implementation of workplace health and safety regulations that all businesses are bound to in the United States. No matter what state or corporate policies say, the standards set down by OSHA are universally applied to all businesses in the United States.

“Blake & Todd Restaurant” - and caterers - is a Midtown staple lunch stop for hungry local businessmen and women. They are known for their prompt, polite serving staff. Five-Star quality pizza and deli foods are their mainstay. Blake & Todd’s can handle last minute catering duties for office functions. They also deliver, so any lunchtime dining situation is easily covered.

The “21 Club” was originally a speakeasy with elaborate ways to dump the alcohol into the sewer system in the event of a Prohibition raid. Old traditions remain in its jacket-required policy. This landmark four-story townhouse contains a ground-floor bar that still holds a Capote-like air. Classic à la carte offerings such as crab-crusted halibut, grilled venison, elk and bacon-wrapped wild boar and Berkshire pork belly comfit may be more expensive than the lunch crowd ordinarily pays. The Club also offers a more affordable prix-fixe menu that contains savory choices to suit everyone’s taste.

“The Modern” is a Midtown restaurant inside the Museum of Modern Art. Its French cuisine focuses on Alsatian specialties that feed the body while the surrounding art feeds the eyes and soul. The dining room offers magnificent views of the Sculpture Garden. Their casual Bar Room provides the same wonderful menu only with smaller snack-sized portions. The location and affordability of lunch at “The Modern” make it a favorite stop for the hungry Manhattan lunch crowd.

The “Bukhara Grill” is one more Five-Star eating establishment in Manhattan - Midtown East - serving traditional Indian cuisine. Its cozy evening atmosphere provides the perfect surroundings for a romantic date. This is the restaurant’s best known quality. Luncheon crowds, however, are more interested in the remarkable quality of the food. The quiet atmosphere and serving staff that won’t hover during the meal make it a great place to conduct a lunch meeting or visit with a group of friends.

“Cibo” is located in Midtown East Manhattan. It offers fantastic contemporary Italian dishes to please any diner. Its menu includes veal tenderloin, New Zealand baby lamb rack and Tuscan white bean ravioli. The décor verges on the outlandish, filling the space with knick-knacks and frills that tend to grab the patrons’ attention. The attentive staff and fantastic flavors of the food make up for any distraction.

These restaurants are a small sample of the variety available to Manhattan residents and workers who want an enjoyable lunchtime meal.

Tech Companies in New York

Tumblr

Tumblr is a microblogging platform that has gained immense popularity since its inception in 2007. As the number of venture capital firms in New York City rose over the past few years, CEO David Karp has been able to make some amazing upgrades to the service. What was once a small blogging service is now a multi-million dollar blogging company with over 100 employees.

Foursquare

Foursquare is a social networking platform that allows users to get location-based deals on goods and services while keeping up with friends. It has become the flagship service of a long line of like-minded companies. Recently, the co-founder of the company valued it at roughly $250 million. Currently, Foursquare employs over 100 people in a variety of capacities.

Small Planet Digital, LLC

Small Planet Digital is a well-known and popular software development company based in New York City. They specialize in the development of small games and apps for smartphones and tablet computers. The most popular of their applications are the digital storybooks they create for small children.

Why the Tech Industry is Coming Back

Over the past few years, a few factors have contributed significantly to the growing popularity of the tech industry in New York. One factor is the shift from large-scale technology ventures to more consumer-based technology ventures. As this shift occurred, venture capital firms were more able to understand the scope of tech start-ups.

These large-scale projects have been focused mostly around the Boston and the San Francisco bay area of California. This is because these areas have very prestigious engineering and technology colleges. People in these areas have a more comprehensive ability to see the scope of large-scale projects. In New York, the shift toward a consumer-based sales model in technology has made the industry much more approachable.

With this shift has come an increase in the amount of venture capital firms willing to invest in tech start-ups. One of the major draws of the Silicon Valley area is the large amount of willing venture capital firms there. As these firms grow in number around New York, more businesses are able to survive and thrive here. As these venture capital firms continue to expand, it is expected that the tech industry in New York is going to expand as well.

Monthly maintenance fees at $13,000+ and taxes that run $16,000+ mean an extra $356,000+ annually to live in the apartment purchased. Many apartments in this price range include master bedroom suites with an office area, his and hers bathrooms, dressing rooms, and closets. An extra-large living room with floor to ceiling windows adds to the openness experienced inside. The separate dining room and chef’s kitchen including a pantry and complete laundry center are all additional perks for this price. Multiple bedrooms and baths are usually included as well.

Inside the Plaza Hotel lies the refurbished Astor Suite-the most expensive rental in New York. The monthly rate to stay in this exquisite space is $165,000. Any time it is available for rent there is someone ready to take on the expense. The suite contains Oxford bookcases, flat-screen TVs that hide behind fantastic art works when not in use, and iPad controls for practically everything mechanical within its walls.

One three bedroom apartment in Midtown East rents for as little as $6,300 a month-which most people don’t consider “little.” It has floor to ceiling windows which help make the 1,600 square foot space seem even larger. The kitchen has granite counters and splash-back with stainless steel appliances. It can be home to a family or house up to four roommates. The apartment has two complete marble baths and an additional half-bath. A large, windowed balcony brightens the interior and walk-in closets provide plenty of storage space. There are hook-ups for washer and dryer in the unit and it is located near a subway hub which takes the tenants anywhere in the city.

Compare the above apartment to a three bedroom unit in Greenwich Village that rents for $27,495. Located on Astor Place, this unit covers 2,248 square feet and has three bedrooms and three baths. The architecture of this loft is museum quality, having been designed by two American architects: Robert Siegel and Charles Gwathmey. It is located in downtown’s most vibrant neighborhood. The floor to ceiling windows undulate with the walls providing dramatic views of the city facing North, East and South. The master bath includes a spa-like marble, deep soaking tub and twin carved black granite sinks.

The most expensive NYC apartment which overlooks Central Park sold for $88 million in 2011. The family of a billionaire from Russia made the purchase. Ekatarina Rybolovleva, 22, will be living there while she attends college in New York. The price her family paid was 66% above the previously held record amount for a NY apartment. The apartment has a complete wrap-around terrace along with all the usual amenities expected of any unit near that price range.

New York City’s neighborhoods are very popular areas in which to live. Restaurants, places of work, theaters and other forms of entertainment are within easy walking distance or a quick cab ride for those who don’t have their own limousines. That alone makes the high-priced real estate worth it to many of those who choose to live there. Depending on their address, apartment dwellers pay high prices to-what ordinary people would call-exorbitant amounts-and will undoubtedly continue to do so into the foreseen future.

Wages

The minimum wage in New York State is $7.25 an hour, which is identical to the federal minimum wage standard. Some states go beyond the federal standard to create their own state-wide minimum wage. Oregon is one such state, with a minimum wage of $8.80 an hour. New York has opted to retain those federal standards.

New York is also a state where certain classes of workers are not covered by the standard minimum wage laws. For example, restaurant servers have a minimum wage of $4.65 an hour because they are making tips. New York state also allows employers to pay an adjusted income based off of extra perks. For example, if food and lodging are provided by the employer, then her or she may pay workers lower than standard minimum wage.

Workday and Workweek Regulations

There is no limit of hours an employee can legally work in one day in New York. There is no provision allowing for overtime pay for working more than 8 hours in one day. However, there are weekly hour requirements that can automatically qualify an employee for overtime pay.

The defined work week in New York state is 40 hours for non-residential employees and 44 hours for residential employees. Residential employees are defined as employees who live at their place of work, such as live-in home care aides. If an employee works for a number of hours that goes beyond these standards, he or she is guaranteed a minimum of 1.5 times their hourly rate. The higher hourly rate will only be applied to hours worked beyond the standardized work week.

Discrimination and Harassment Laws

New York’s laws on discrimination go a little further than the federal regulations do. The regulations in New York state do not allow employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of any legal activity conducted outside of work. If an employer stumbles across and employee’s page on a social networking site, he or she cannot discriminate against the employee based off of pictures or commentary on the site. However, this changes if the employee is mentioning or otherwise associating his or herself with the company outside of working hours. An employer cannot discriminate against an employee for any actions, affiliations, or activities taken on by the employee outside of work.

Government Offices

If employees feel that these laws are being violated by an employer, he or she is encouraged to contact the New York State Department of Labor. It is illegal for employers to retaliate against people who file complaints. If retaliation occurs, New York state allows for civil damages to be pursued in court.

New York City could be considered the home of philanthropy. The city has a long history of giving by its many wealthy residents. The majority of the city’s many parks exist due to the efforts of giving women. Betsy Head Park was named after the British immigrant who bequeathed the city a large amount of money when she died in 1907 for building recreational facilities. Half of her estate was dedicated to children’s welfare improvement and the other half to purchasing grounds for healthy recreation.

In 1961 the estate of Loula D. Lasker provided $600,000 to build Lasker Rink in Central Park. While she was alive, Ms. Lasker worked actively in Hadassah and took great interest in alleviating housing problems within the city.

Mary Rumsey was part of a philanthropic family and helped many causes during her lifetime from 1881-1934. Rumsey Playfield in Central Park was named in her honor.

The last surviving member of a charitable family, Kate Wollman, lived from 1870-1955. Ms. Wollman paid special interest to children’s welfare. As a memorial to her parents, she gave $600,000 for the construction of Wollman Rink in Central Park. After her death, the estate perpetuated her contributions and in 1961 these were used to build a skating rink at Prospect Park in Brooklyn dedicated to her memory.

Generosity on the part of NYC inhabitants continues to this day. On March 29th, 2012, Harold Grinspoon, a Jewish émigré was honored for his longtime commitment to the Russian-speaking Jewish community. The event was held at The Museum of Jewish Heritage and marked the 10th anniversary of the Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations. Mr. Grinspoon has used monies made from his real estate business to establish the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. The Foundation’s purpose is to promote Jewish life among young people, adults and families. More than $110 million have been distributed to programs, grants and operations for programs throughout the Jewish world community. He established the PJ Library program that sends children’s books to 100,000 children every month reaching out to the next generation.

Well known celebrities who live in New York City often show their generosity through gifts. Bette Midler has sponsored neighborhood garden projects which has turned 60 city-owned lots into gardens. Through her efforts more than 80,000 tons of trash have been removed from local parks, more than 400 acres of riverfront parkland have been reclaimed and dozens of community gardens have been saved from destruction. It is not just money that makes a difference in the city, but putting one’s name and efforts behind a cause.

Many people prefer to quietly give gifts. Bruce Kovner might not appear often in the press but is one of New York’s unassuming philanthropists. He recently donated $25 million to Lincoln Center in order to support its ongoing renovation.

News stories about schools with no playing fields touched the heart of Laurie Tisch Sussman. She then persuaded her father to fund the building of 43 athletic centers for needy schools. Her foundation donates more than $30 million annually to various art groups.

The well-known model who survived a tsunami herself, Petra Nemcova, has established a fund to help other disaster victims. Thus far she has raised $1.3 million for this cause. She supported an auction at Ciprianai’s where she donated a dinner with herself and two other models, bringing a $75,000 donation.

The Metropolitan Opera got a $25 million donation from Mercedes Bass and her husband, Sid. This was the largest single gift that had been received in its 123-year history and came without restrictions on its use.

The Whitney Museum trustees followed a suggestion by Leonard Lauder to spend $200 million on art works by Pop Artists and Abstract Expressionists. Then Mr. Lauder covered most of the donation himself.

Henry Kravis is a NYC financier. He and his economist wife, Marie-Josée Kravis, who is a member of the Hudson Institute board, made a $25 million donation to the Marie-Josée Kravis and an additional $10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They also gift several other New York charities.

This list really covers only a few of the many philanthropists who keep NYC parks, arts and medical facilities among the world’s best.