By Michael Moynihan, Chief Economist & Senior Vice President for Research & Analysis

It’s no secret that the New York City technology scene is booming. Spurred by city initiatives combined with favorable global trends, the City has incubated some of the hottest startups around. Tumblr, Foursquare and Gilt Groupe are just three examples of the City’s ability to spawn new companies that leverage the City’s existing strengths in media, communications and fashion. While startups abound, many are still privately-held, making the precise value of the overall tech sector hard to quantify. However, confirmation of the economic value of the startup scene emerges from recently released figures that testify...

Get on the 7 train, because it's time to watch some world-class tennis. Photo credit: vicipix via Flickr

Tennis fever will once again take over New York City next week, as the country’s largest tennis tournament returns to Queens! The US Open, which begins play on Monday, August 27, is the last of the four major tournaments of the tennis season. Nearly 713,000 people attended the US Open in 2010 (the latest year for which data are available) at the 

We drank out of this water fountain at Riverside Park. Photo by Kelly Ernst/NYCEDC

Summer officially arrived in the City on June 20, marked by high temperatures and lots of sun. While this time of year is great for outdoor activities, the heat and sunshine may put New Yorkers at risk for dehydration more so than any other time of the year. In 2011, the New York City Water Supply System provided about one billion gallons of drinking water per day to more than eight million residents in the City. At the height of this summer’s activities, it’s important for parched New Yorkers to know just where they can find water.

Mayor Bloomberg enjoys a hot dog at last year’s annual weigh-in ceremony for Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Photo credit: Kristen Artz/NYC Mayor’s Office

In honor of Independence Day, StatsBee is looking at the great American traditions of barbecues and consuming hot dogs. New York City is well-known for its love of hot dogs, from the sight of street carts selling them at nearly every corner, to the nationally-televised Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. 

According to the

Photo credit: Flickr.com/roboppy

May is National Hamburger Month, and there is no shortage of places to celebrate in a city where everyone seems to have an opinion on the best burger joint. Like pizza, everyone has their favorite, but rather than weigh in on which one is the best, we are going to stick to looking at the numbers.

Using the latest NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene restaurant inspection data, we analyzed the 627 burger joints in the City...

Photo Credit: Kelly Ernst/NYCEDC

The Kentucky Derby, which takes place on Saturday, May 5^th this year, is also known as “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports.”  Many traditions surround the event, including mint juleps, the rose garland, and of course the parade of hats. While the origin of the hat tradition is largely unknown, both men and women wear hats of varying shapes and sizes to the Kentucky Derby.

Though a relatively small industry, the hat/cap industry has experienced growth in recent years. From 2010 to 2011, retail sales for hats/caps increased 4%, and sales are expected to increase an...