Submitted by Viki
One of the first things that strikes you as you begin to live in New York City is the huge variety and diversity in what people do for work. In this article I’m going to walk with you through the different areas of New York and the kind of jobs you’re likely to see there. Let’s start off with a dramatic bang.
Organised crime
People who have watched too many movies think that there are mobsters with 1920’s Tommy guns standing on every corner block, watching out for the prohibition police. Modern New York is of course much safer. If there is organised crime, it’s hardly seen by the normal residents and tourists in the city. I feel safe here and would like to just set the record straight about that. I have never knowingly seen a gangster in NYC.
Finance and banking
Down in Manhattan however, the projected persona of the stock trader, is spot on. Just like in the movies, you do overhear tall, loud men shouting into their phones, just like Michael Douglass in that 80’s movie, Wall Street. Well, I’ve been to Wall Street, and reporting in from the field, I can definitely confirm that the suits are as expensive as claimed to be in the movies. I’m not sure that anyone makes any money doing this, or if the banks are just supporting this kind of behavior out of the mortgage repayments they collect from everyone else.
Food
Food is the life of the city. There are enough restaurants in NYC that you could eat at a different one every night for a year and still have a hundred or more left to try. And new places are opening up and closing down all the time, you just have to accept that you’ll never see them all. Constant exciting and novel food opportunities, from all kinds of diverse backgrounds. This is one of the best things about living in NYC. And it’s not only dining that employs more than a million people, it’s all of the people working in the early morning markets, providing fresh produce, and the farmers from all over the country who freight their goods into the city for sale. It’s all around you, and hard to forget just how many different industries exist under the umbrella of “food”.
Culture
Culture is a huge part of living in NYC, so naturally, there are many many people employed in it’s service. There is always something to do be it a museum, a play, a concert, or a movie, all of which require someone to take your ticket, recite hamlet for you, or smack down some impromptu poetry at a poetry slam. On the calmer end of art, there are over a dozen museums in Manhattan alone, employing hundreds of people collectively, and providing a means of income for many artists, not only in NYC but from all over the world. There are also a lot of other forms of culture, like street artists, street photography, and street theater. It really cuts across all ages, groups and social stratum. There’s work for everyone here, artists especially.
Politics
The political sphere is also large in New York. There are a lot of political offices in the city. The city council, the mayor, the borough presidents, and of course the US senators and congressmen who have made NYC their favorite home base. Infamously, Trump tower is in NYC. Make of that what you will!
Media
Media is a huge aspect of New York City, contributing millions to the “GDP” of the state. If this is surprising to you, just picture Times Square and the flashing, moving colorful cacophony of light and shape that is advertisement. It’s a constantly running audio-visual show, and somewhere in there, there are people working hard, making money. There are also thousands of different kinds of media produced in the city, all of which employ people. There are different kinds of media for every taste, from religious media, to political media, to “how to” media, and everything in between.
Fashion
In the fashion world there are about 1,000,000,000 fashion shows every week in the season. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but not by much! If you’ve ever wondered where all of the models in the fashion shows come from, it’s New York. The city is also a fashion hub, since it’s here that all the clothes are designed, manufactured, and then shipped to the rest of the world. There are also thousands of designers all around the city, making clothes, and trying to get noticed, and you can be part of it too. Be it via the fashion, or the music end of things.
Summing up
With all of these amazing diverse paths and careers on show throughout the city, it can be a little bewildering. In my opinion, being spoiled for choice is a good thing. You’re never going to be bored in this city, with so many jobs calling out to you. As for myself, I hope to become a pregnancy doctor, once I finish my studies. With the amount of sights, sounds, smells and excitements available on offer, I can’t really be too annoyed with myself for being constantly distracted! If there’s a place in the world that has a more diverse range of jobs than NYC, I would be shocked to hear it! That’s why I’ve entitled this article, 18 Million Jobs, after the 18 million residents of New York City. Thanks for reading!