Quick Business Search

Your current location

Analyzing your current
geographic location

New York City, which is geographically the largest city in the state and most populous in the United States, is known for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors. Both state and city were named for the 17th century Duke of York, James Stuart, future James II and VII of England and Scotland.

New York City

New York City dominates the economy of the state. It is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street, Manhattan. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that in 2005, the total gross state product was $963.5 billion, ranking 3rd behind California and Texas. If New York were a nation, it would rank as the 16th largest economy in the world, behind South Korea. The state economy grew 3.3%, slightly slower than the 3.5% growth rate for the US. It was the 25th fastest growing economy in the US in 2005. Its 2005 per capita personal income was $50,038, an increase of 5.9% from 2004, placing it 5th in the nation behind Massachusetts, and 8th in the world behind Ireland. New York\'s agricultural outputs are dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, and apples. Its industrial outputs are printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment, machinery, chemical products, and tourism.

Many of the world\'s largest corporations locate their home offices in Manhattan or in nearby Westchester County, New York. The state also has a large manufacturing sector which includes printing and the production of garments, furs, railroad rolling stock, and bus line vehicles. Some industries are concentrated in upstate locations also, such as ceramics (the southern tier of counties), microchips and nanotechnology (Albany), and photographic equipment (Rochester).

Long Island

The counties of Nassau and Suffolk have long been renowned for their affluence. Long Island has a very high standard of living with residents paying some of the highest property taxes in the country. In opulent pockets of the North Shore of Long Island and South Shore, assets have passed from one generation to the next over time.

From about 1930 to about 1990, Long Island was considered one of the aviation centers of the United States, with companies such as Grumman Aircraft having their headquarters and factories in the Bethpage area. Grumman has long been the source of top warplanes for the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps, as seen in the movie Top Gun and numerous WW-II naval and Marine Corps aviation movies. Prominent WW-II Grumman aircraft included the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat fighters, and the TBF Avenger bomber, flown by hundreds of U.S. and Allied pilots, including former President George H.W. Bush.

Long Island has played a prominent role in scientific research and in engineering. It was the home of the Brookhaven National Laboratories in nuclear physics and Department of Energy research. In recent decades companies such as Sperry Rand and Computer Associates, headquartered in Islandia, have made Long Island a center for the computer industry. Gentiva Health Services, a national provider of home health and pharmacy services, also is headquartered in Long Island.

Tourism is a good part of the Long Island economy in certain regions. Tourism thrives primarily in the summer because of the natural beauty, parks and beaches. Regions of Long Island that are large tourist attractions are the North fork on the east end of Suffolk County, which is known for fishing villages, quaint towns, ferries across to Connecticut or other northern states, and for wineries. The South fork is primarily known for similar features including golf, equestrian, boating, surfing, and fine dining in the Hamptons and Montauk.

The eastern end of the island is still partly agricultural, now including many vineyards and pumpkin farms as well as traditional truck farming. Fishing also continues to be an important industry, especially at Northport and Montauk.

Long Island is home to the East Coast\'s largest industrial park, the Hauppauge Industrial Park. The park has over 1,300 companies, and employs over 55,000 Long Islanders. Companies in the park and abroad are represented by the Hauppauge Industrial Association.

Fishing Industry

There is a moderately large saltwater commercial fishery located along the Atlantic side of Long Island. The principal catches by value are clams, lobsters, squid, and flounder. There used to be a large oyster fishery in New York waters as well, but at present, oysters comprise only a small portion of the total value of seafood harvested. Perhaps the best known aspect of the fishing sector is the famous Fulton Fish Market in New York City, which distributes not only the New York catch but imported seafood from all over the world. The Fulton Fish Market has been moved from Fulton Street in Manhattan to The Bronx.

Exports

New York exports a wide variety of goods such as foodstuffs, commodities, minerals, manufactured goods, cut diamonds, and automobile parts. New York\'s top five export markets in 2004 were Canada ($30.2 billion), United Kingdom ($3.3 billion), Japan ($2.6 billion), Israel ($2.4 billion), and Switzerland ($1.8 billion). New York\'s largest imports are oil, gold, aluminum, natural gas, electricity, rough diamonds, and lumber.

Canada has become a very important economic partner of New York. 23% of the state\'s total worldwide exports went to Canada in 2004. Tourism also constitutes a significant part of the economy. Canadians tourists spent $487 million in New York in 2004. This figure is predicted to increase due to the stronger Canadian dollar.

Agriculture

The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, opened eastern markets to Midwest farm products. The canal also contributed to the growth of New York City, helped create large cities, and encouraged immigration to the state. Except in the mountain regions, the areas between cities are agriculturally rich. The Finger Lakes region has orchards producing apples, which are one of New York\'s leading crops. The state is known for wines produced at vineyards in the Finger Lakes region and Long Island. The state also produces other crops, especially grapes, strawberries, cherries, pears, onions, and potatoes. New York is a major supplier of maple syrup and is the third leading producer of dairy goods in the United States.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Markets, New York\'s agricultural production returned more than $3.6 billion to the farm economy in 2005. 35,600 farms occupy 7.55 million acres (31,000 km²), or about 25 percent of the state’s land area, to produce an array of food products. Here are some of the items in which New York ranks high nationally:

New York is an agricultural leader and is one of the top five states for agricultural products, including dairy, apples, cherries, cabbages, potatoes, onions, maple syrup and many others. The state is the largest producer of cabbage in the U.S. The state has about a quarter of its land in farms and produced $3.4 billion in agricultural products in 2001. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach orchards. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain. The south shore of Lake Erie and the southern Finger Lakes hillsides have vineyards. New York is the nation\'s third-largest grape-producing state, after California, and second largest wine producer by volume. In 2004, New York\'s wine and grape industry brought $6 billion into the state economy. The state has 30,000 acres (120 km²) of vineyards, 212 wineries, and produced 200 million bottles of wine in 2004.

New York was heavily glaciated in the ice age leaving much of the state with deep, fertile, though somewhat rocky soils. Row crops, including hay, corn, wheat, oats, barley, and soybeans, are grown. Particularly in the western part of the state, sweet corn, peas, carrots, squash, cucumbers and other vegetables are grown. The Hudson and Mohawk Valleys are known for pumpkins and blueberries. The glaciers also left numerous swampy areas, which have been drained for the rich humus soils called muckland which is mostly used for onions, potatoes, celery and other vegetables. Dairy farms are present throughout much of the state. Cheese is a major product, often produced by Amish or Mennonite farm cheeseries. New York is rich in nectar-producing plants and is a major honey-producing state. The honeybees are also used for pollination of fruits and vegetables. Most commercial beekeepers are migratory, taking their hives to southern states for the winter. Most cities have Farmers\' markets which are well supplied by local farmers.

Hide state description

Browse Business Categories in New York