Maybe you finally quit your corporate job, or perhaps you decided to move to NYC. Whatever the reason, starting a business in New York is an exciting endeavor. Here are 3 tips you need to know about getting your business up and running in the Big Apple.
Know What You Want to Sell
It might sound obvious, but before you start a business in NY, you need to figure out what you want to sell. You might be selling a service, or perhaps you’ve created something that you want to sell.
If you invented something, before you go all-in on it, it’s highly recommended that you work with a patent lawyer in New York. This is important because you’ll want to make sure that your idea is not already patented by someone else, and the lawyer can also help you figure out if it’s worth getting a patent for your idea.
Determine Your Location
Are you planning to have a brick-and-mortar store, or will your business live strictly online? If you choose to have a storefront, you need to carefully think about the neighborhood in New York that you want to be located in. Do you want to work in Manhattan, the cultural and financial capital of the world, or do you prefer a quieter area like Brooklyn?
Anna Nekrashevich
You’ll also want to consider your budget since rent is not exactly cheap in New York. If spending thousands on rent each month is not something you can afford, basing your business online is likely a better option (at least to start).
Register Your Business
Before you can legally work in NY, you must correctly set up your business and get it registered. This includes doing the following:
Determining your business name (it’s a good idea to check with a trademark lawyer to ensure the name isn’t already trademarked)
Selecting a business entity (LLC, sole proprietorship, etc)
Once you’ve done that, you can open up a business bank account, apply for business loans, hire employees, and get business insurance.
Final Thoughts
New York City is a great place to start a business filled with countless opportunities. Take time to get your business set up properly, and then connect with the community to spread the word about your new business.
We had the pleasure of speaking with George Santana about his run for Judge of Civil Court New York City. While speaking with George, we felt that his story and upbringing is exactly what our country was built on.
“Having been raised by a single immigrant mother has given me a strong work ethic, with the tolerance and judgment to deal with many setbacks and adversities.”
George Santana
DTM: How did you get into the political arena?
GS: Back in the old days prior to the reform democratic movement, old-time political clubs, dating back to Tammany Hall were famous for among other things dishing out jobs and finding apartments for people. The unwritten rule was that in exchange for the club leader’s largess, the recipient “volunteered” around the club when necessary.
In the early 1980s when I was 10 about 11 years old and my mother was in her 50s, the club helped her secure her second job cleaning offices. Back then, my mother worked two jobs as she was paying a whopping $35.00 per month for my Catholic school tuition. But she was the only breadwinner because my father had walked out never paying child support.
At the time the club was gearing up for a contested primary election which became an “all hands on deck” project. Although she never said so, I suppose my mother was embarrassed because she really did not have any skills which could parlay into “volunteering” for the club because she never spoke English fluently. Furthermore, like many other immigrants lacking a formal education, her skill set was limited to cleaning, sewing, ironing, and cooking.
George Santana’s family
So that summer, my mother decided to kill two birds with one stone, by dropping me off at the local political club. I would be her “volunteering” substitute and the club would serve as my babysitter during the daytime which gave my grandmother then in her mid-seventies a break from having me around the house all day long. The club got more than it bargained for and a door opened for me that shaped the course of my entire life.
As an overly curious and precocious child, I wanted to learn everything I was a quick study and was willing to run errands, answer phones, and ride my bicycle all over the City of New York delivering packages to people that to this day were larger than life.
That political campaign led to another the following year for a lady who was running for New York City Civil Court Judge. After the lady won the election, I showed up at the Civil Judge’s chambers door a few weeks shy of my 13th birthday and offered to volunteer for her. That daily volunteering job lasted almost 10 years and sealed the deal for me. I knew right there and then that I wanted to be an attorney and someday also a judge.
“I was raised to believe that our laws must be obeyed, and our courts must be fair.”
George Santana
DTM: What is the most important thing that you want to achieve if elected?
GS: If elected, the most important thing that I want to achieve is making the courthouse user friendly for everyone entering through the door. New York’s judicial system can be confusing and downright overwhelming for both lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Court users must be made to feel that they and their cases will be heard in a dignified and timely manner.
George Santana
DTM: Where did you grow up?
GS: I grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, and attended elementary school in Chelsea, and high school in the Lower East Side.
DTM: What is the easiest thing to change that would really make a difference to every day working people?
GS: The easiest thing I will change to make an extraordinary difference to every day working people is respecting their time by taking the bench punctually and ready to hear cases at the time printed on the notices summoning the people to court, not two hours later.
George Santana
“I have known Geroge Santan since he was 13 years old. For almost the entire 35 years I have known George, this is what he has wanted to do and worked so hard to attain – a seat on the bench. Candace C. Carponter P.C. “
DTM: What brings you joy?
GS: Since the age of 2, I learned not to take anything for granted and was trained to deal with loss, not to just accept it. My life on a good day has been challenging and on its worst day dreadful. The fact that I got to this point, and that I am in a place where I can help countless numbers of people, directly and indirectly, provides me the greatest joy I have ever felt.
George Santana
DTM: Why do you love New York?
GS: I love New York not only because it is my birthplace, but also because it welcomed my parents from Cuba. New York can be a rough place, but it is also forgiving and embracing.
DTM: What makes New Yorker’s different than other states?
GS: New Yorkers are tough, fast-paced, no-nonsense. However, New Yorkers have hearts of gold and we know how to unite and rise to any challenge to help our fellow New Yorkers.
George Santana
DTM: If you could change anything about the political arena/system what would you change?
GS: If I could change anything about the political systemin New York it would be to make running for office within economic reach. There are many wise, intelligent, and dedicated people who wish to get involved but are discouraged from becoming so due to the economics of politics.
DTM: Where is your go-to place on a Sunday afternoon?
GS: Unless I must prepare for a case or do work that I take home with me, my go-to place on a Sunday is my apartment which I convert into a mini version of Grand Central Station. I like cooking for friends, and in a typical Cuban style, have more people than the apartment holds. On a given Sunday in my house, the priest is rubbing elbows with a Grammy winner who is rubbing elbows with a taxi driver, who is rubbing elbows with someone I met the week before at the supermarket. It is an opportunity to keep myself grounded and to never forget where I came from.
DTM: Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readership
GS: Growing up in a non-traditional, non-conventional setting coupled with attending the “school of hard knocks” has given me the skill set to easily navigate and diffuse difficult situations and cases fraught with raw human emotions while letting everyone walk away feeling that they were heard and that they “won” something.
ATTENTION NEW YORKERS
Voting options have changed due to the current COVID crisis.
When someone dies due to the fault of a professional healthcare provider, it’s extremely unfortunate to imagine that an accident or another cause of death can lead to a personal injury case. There are times when injuries sustained are life-threatening and, regretfully prove to be fatal.
For the healthcare industry, wrongful death is a valid concern. It relates to whether negligence was involved, and who was with the patient from the healthcare facility at the time of their passing.
We’ll examine in detail and take a look at how things appear from the perspective of the patient so to gain greater clarity for those potentially involved in such a case.
Not Every Case is a Wrongful Death
It’s fair to say that when someone dies unexpectedly, it’s natural for friends and relatives to look for blame. Emotions are high with a sudden loss, and it can be hard to maintain calm and focus on good reasoning, it’s natural and is to be expected.
Nevertheless, despite the high emotion of the moment, it’s important to appreciate that not every death is wrongful. Negligence on the part of a nurse, doctor or another individual can be difficult to establish and even harder to prove. Quite often, the assigned blame is based on supposition and not the facts.
It’s important to see what the facts are to determine if it was an unfortunate death or a wrongful one. This is where its important to have good attorneys present, they can provide impartial legal opinions using clear and reasoning based on the established facts of the case.
Wrongful Death Cases Are Handled Differently State to State
New York requires that a personal representative be responsible for the financial affairs of the person who has passed away in a wrongful death case. This could be a family member or a friend who is suitable for this role.
It’s up to the court to appoint this individual as a personal representative. Once officially appointed as the trustee, they can potentially file a wrongful death case. At this point, as the representative and trustee, they’re expected to act in accordance with the wishes of the deceased. This may include pursuing a wrongful death case.
Will an Attorney Be Hired in a Potential Wrongful Death Case?
Most people have never had to deal with the estate of a loved one or pursue a wrongful death case. Along with the emotional shock of the person’s passing, it’s a heavy burden to bear.
When having to manage a case of possible negligence, and or failure in the duty of care, hiring an NYC wrongful death lawyer is essential to get the proper representation. The professional council knows what advice to give, how to proceed with this type of case, and the amount of compensation to consider. Without an experienced attorney when involved in this type of case, New York state, and or a court-appointed trustee is going to find it difficult to manage the legal process.
Gaining insight into wrongful death cases and how they may be perceived outside the healthcare profession is tedious work, and can be driven by heightened emotion. Being informed on how to proceed as the patient’s advocate is paramount.
Jessica Camacho has always had an inclination towards justice. She even considered a career in law before becoming an actress. She enjoyed the idea of fighting for what is just, something larger than herself. That makes her new roles, as LA County Public Defender Emily Lopez in CBS‘s All Rise and Police Officer ‘Pirate Jenny’ in HBO‘s Watchmen, particularly compelling.
Both shows ask compelling questions about the criminal justice system, and about the responsibility each person has to do what is right–whether or not that thing is backed up by the law. Camacho herself holds strong convictions, though she doesn’t see those convictions as political. “There are things that I just know are right,” she tells me, “that is like the pursuit of freedom, the pursuit of fairness. We all want to be treated with respect. To have a shot at a life and providing for ourselves, for our family. We all want to be free from violence. That, to me, is the hard line.”
Downtown: What excited you about All Rise?
Jessica Camacho: I get to play this incredible human being who is committed to justice in a very clear and true way. I got to really understand and explore what it is to be a public defender. That particular line of work is so heavy and burdened by the knowledge that so many lives are reliant upon the public defender as their last line of defense. The clients often have nothing and are in situations that are so dire. They are trusting in this human being to help them have a shot at the rest of their lives. I get to play somebody who is committed to something so much greater than themselves. I was very honored.
DT: Did you have an interest in the legal system before this role?
JC: Before I became an actor, before I even knew that acting would be a part of my life, I thought about going into law. It’s something that always interested me. It fascinated me: fighting on the right side of things, fighting for something bigger than yourself. I was always moved by that.
The problem was that I could never decide if I wanted to be a prosecutor or a defense attorney. I was not very good at making decisions, so I’m like, I might not be the best lawyer. I see the gray a lot of times. I’m not a person that is more apt to see things in black and white. So it was just like, “I don’t know if this is the right pursuit for me.” And then pretty soon after that, I discovered acting.
Jessica Camacho
DT: Were there any issues in All Rise that were particularly close to you?
JC: I think the thing that’s closest to me in my personal life is Emily’s struggle with relationships. But also I know that the topics that we explore in All Rise–as a human being, as an American–a lot of those really resonate with me, hit home with me. So I often find myself being really, really stirred emotionally by the things that we’re exploring on the show.
DT: Did you read Watchmen or seen the movie before you, uh, audition to be part of Watchman?
JC: I had seen the movie. As I was auditioning, I started to read through the original graphic novel and I was blown away. It was dark and it was stirring and it was uncomfortable. It was talking about real fears and real anxieties, and the paranoia and the darkness within us.
So that’s when I kinda realized like, “Oh, this is special, this is really special. This is like a different kind of look at life through the lens of the comic filter. This is something different.” So, yeah, it was very exciting.
DT: In addition to Watchmen, you were also on The Flash. Why do you think superhero shows are so popular right now?
JC: (Superheroes) speak to the possibility, the potential within us. I think as human beings, we feel limited in our lives. We feel the separation between how we want to see ourselves and how we actually see ourselves. I think the fascination with superheroes, it kind of picks up where our limitations leave us and there’s something beautiful and there’s something freeing about that.
But I think in terms of Watchman, I think this is the perfect time for Watchman because, with the constant stream of news and updates that technology brings us, we’re blown away by how much war, darkness, fighting, racism, and fear there is in the world. I think we want even our fantasies, even our heroes, to reflect what we’re experiencing as human beings.
I think people now want to see real. Yes, (Watchmen is) dealing with fantasy and yes, it’s dealing with heroes. Yes, it’s dealing with masks, but why the masks? What are the masks hiding? What are they disguising? I just think we’re just ready to delve in, even in our fantasy, to the darker nature of what is behind all of this.
When you see Watchman it’s like, Oh shit, this is not shying away from ugliness. This is not shying away from the horrible parts of American history. This is actually digging straight into that. Like, let’s address it so we can stop hating. Let’s address this. Then we can stop pretending that this is not at the core of us right now because we need to heal from it. And wounds need air to heal. I think it’s actually a really positive and beautiful thing that we’re starting to present things that are of the darker nature of us because I think it means that we want to heal.
Jessica Camacho
DM: What’s next?
JC: Right now, we just found out that uh, all rise is getting a full season, so we’ll be shooting until about March. I think we’re just all kind of like, “Cool, all right, let’s buckle down. Let’s make this, let’s combine our efforts and make a really beautiful piece of work.” So that’s what’s on my agenda. I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m bubbling over with passion and energy. I love what I do. I am so, so excited to show up for it, to show up for every project that I get to do, and I’m just excited to see what comes next.
