May
11
NYC’s Burger Economy May is national hamburger month, and there is no shortage of places to celebrate in a city where everyone has an opinion about the best burger in town. 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 to see how they break down into chain and independent restaurants. The findings were not too surprising: the big three chains (McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s) account for the majority (60%) of all burger places in the city. Another 26% are smaller chains like White Castle and Five Guys, and the remaining 14% are places with only a single location in the City. This week’s poll on NYCEDC.com asked you which borough you thought had the most burger joints. 42% of respondents said Brooklyn had the most, followed by Manhattan with 32% of the vote and Queens with 21%. How the numbers really stack up: With 216, Manhattan has the most of any borough. While it is not the most populous borough, its economy caters to the daytime population which includes workers and tourists. Manhattan also has the smallest share of big three burger joints (46%) and the largest share of those with a single location (22%). When taking the resident population into account, Manhattan again leads the way with 13.5 burger places per 100,000 residents. Queens and the Bronx each have 6.8, and Staten Island has 6.4. Brooklyn has the fewest with 5.3 burger places per 100,000 residents. In other words, regardless of where you are in the City, there’s enough to go around. Types of Burger Joints by Borough Source: NYC DOHMH StatsBee is a column featuring interesting statistics about NYC, written by economists at the Economic Research & Analysis department within NYCEDC’s Center for Economic Transformation. Top photo: Shake Shack, Upper West Side via Flickr.com/roboppy

NYC’s Burger Economy

May is national hamburger month, and there is no shortage of places to celebrate in a city where everyone has an opinion about the best burger in town. 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 to see how they break down into chain and independent restaurants. The findings were not too surprising: the big three chains (McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s) account for the majority (60%) of all burger places in the city. Another 26% are smaller chains like White Castle and Five Guys, and the remaining 14% are places with only a single location in the City.

This week’s poll on NYCEDC.com asked you which borough you thought had the most burger joints. 42% of respondents said Brooklyn had the most, followed by Manhattan with 32% of the vote and Queens with 21%. How the numbers really stack up:

With 216, Manhattan has the most of any borough. While it is not the most populous borough, its economy caters to the daytime population which includes workers and tourists. Manhattan also has the smallest share of big three burger joints (46%) and the largest share of those with a single location (22%).

When taking the resident population into account, Manhattan again leads the way with 13.5 burger places per 100,000 residents. Queens and the Bronx each have 6.8, and Staten Island has 6.4. Brooklyn has the fewest with 5.3 burger places per 100,000 residents. In other words, regardless of where you are in the City, there’s enough to go around.

Types of Burger Joints by Borough

Source: NYC DOHMH

StatsBee is a column featuring interesting statistics about NYC, written by economists at the Economic Research & Analysis department within NYCEDC’s Center for Economic Transformation. Top photo: Shake Shack, Upper West Side via Flickr.com/roboppy

May
08

StatsBee Poll: Which NYC borough has the most burger joints?

Cast your vote at www.nycedc.com. We’ll reveal the answer on Friday.

May
02
The East River Ferry is getting sweeter, now serving local treats aboard like these delicious Butter Lane cupcakes: Beginning Monday morning, passengers will be treated to a new menu of locally-produced goodies, including cupcakes from Butter Lane Cupcakes, retro-style u-bet egg creams in chocolate and vanilla, and hot and iced coffees from the Brooklyn Roasting Company. While coffee was offered on some routes last summer, the effort marks the first time food will be served onboard the pilot ferry service, which launched last June, and travels between Wall Street’s Pier 11 and East 34th Street, with stops in DUMBO’s Fulton Ferry Landing, north and south Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Long Island City, Queens. Check out the routes and schedules of the East River Ferry, bringing passengers to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Photo credit: Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake via Flickr.com

The East River Ferry is getting sweeter, now serving local treats aboard like these delicious Butter Lane cupcakes:

Beginning Monday morning, passengers will be treated to a new menu of locally-produced goodies, including cupcakes from Butter Lane Cupcakes, retro-style u-bet egg creams in chocolate and vanilla, and hot and iced coffees from the Brooklyn Roasting Company.

While coffee was offered on some routes last summer, the effort marks the first time food will be served onboard the pilot ferry service, which launched last June, and travels between Wall Street’s Pier 11 and East 34th Street, with stops in DUMBO’s Fulton Ferry Landing, north and south Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Long Island City, Queens.

Check out the routes and schedules of the East River Ferry, bringing passengers to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Photo credit: Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake via Flickr.com

Apr
12

Watch to learn more about Hot Bread Kitchen’s incubator program, HBK Incubates, at La Marqueta and see how incubator program participant and entrepreneur Diana Scot-Sho made it here, in New York City. This video also features Jessamyn Rodriguez, founder of Hot Bread Kitchen.