Reading the SBA Resource Guide for New York City is a great way to become familiar with state regulations and local agency contact information for the five boroughs and surrounding counties.
The state income tax rate ranges from 4.0% to 7.7%, and the local income tax rate ranges from 2.907% to 4.45%. The state sales tax rate is 4% and the local sales tax rate is 4.375%.
According to city-data.com, the five largest employers in the New York area are New York City (by far), New York Public Schools, Merrill Lynch, JFK International Airport, and the Goldman Sachs Group.
The weather can be hot and humid in the summer and very cold in the winter, with the possibility of any variation in the weather in the spring and fall.
New York City is made up of five distinct counties or districts: Queens (Queens County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Bronx (Bronx County), Staten Island (Richmond County), and Manhattan (New York County) .
TRADITIONS
Street vendors in the city are part of the local culture. Most everyone agrees that this is a good way to get good, inexpensive food quickly.
The annual Easter parade is probably more about clothing than Easter, as its unusual hats and costumes are what sets this parade apart from any other.
From time to time, New Yorkers decide that right now every occasion deserves a parade of ticker tapes. The “ticker tape” comes from the leftover ticker tape that was used as a makeshift substitute for confetti when they decided to celebrate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. People no longer use tickers or ticker tape, but the name stuck, and now refers to any parade down a major New York City street with confetti thrown to celebrate the occasion.
SPORTS
NFL Football: New York Giants (at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ)
NBA Basketball: New York Knicks (at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, NY)
MLB Baseball: New York Mets (at Shea Stadium / Citi Field in Flushing, NY) and New York Yankees (at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY)
NHL Hockey: New York Rangers (at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, NY)
MLS Soccer: New York Red Bulls (at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ)
If the conversation is at a lull and you are with one or two baseball fans, have them tell you the history of ballparks in New York. From the hand of a good storyteller, you can hear all about Ebbets Field, the emigration of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the end of an era at Yankee Stadium.
TRIVIA
The corner of 54th Street and Broadway is called “Big Apple Corner” because it is where the gentleman who coined the term “Big Apple” used to live. A 1997 city ordinance says so.
The residents of Staten Island (Richmond County) had once voted to secede from New York City, but New York State required the city to have veto power over the vote. The mayor of the city did not want to disrupt the budget or city services, so he denied Staten Island’s request.
Legend has it that Peter Minuit bought the entire island of Manhattan from the Algonquin Indians for the equivalent of $ 24.00 USD in 1626.
