https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/about-doh.page

https://www.dfs.ny.gov/About_Us

https://cityjobs.nyc.gov/job/intern-bureau-of-finance-administration-and-services-in-queens-jid-31022

About the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Welcome to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

With an annual budget of $1.6 billion and more than 7,000 employees throughout the five boroughs, we are one of the largest public health agencies in the world. We are also the nation’s oldest municipal public health agency, with over two centuries of leadership in the field.

Every day, we protect and promote the health of more than 8 million New Yorkers by providing essential health services, promoting public health initiatives, preventing the spread of disease, and many other unseen efforts that keep our city safe and healthy.

The work that we do is broad ranging. You see us in the inspection grades of dining establishments, the licenses dogs wear, the low- to no-cost health clinics in your neighborhood, and the birth certificates for our youngest New Yorkers.

We are also behind the scenes with our disease detectives, investigating suspicious clusters of illness. Our epidemiologists study the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in New York City neighborhoods. These studies shape policy decisions and the City’s health agenda.

The challenges we face are many. They range from inequitable life expectancy to infectious disease, tobacco control, substance use, and the threat of climate change. The New York City Health Department is tackling these issues with innovative policies and programs, and getting exceptional results.

We are also committed to addressing health inequities across communities, working to ensure equitable access to services and extending life expectancy for all New Yorkers. Our focus is on making sure every New Yorker, regardless of immigration status, ability to pay, or ability to speak English, has access to the health information and care they need to live and thrive.

Our Commitment to Health Equity

The NYC Health Department promotes and protects the health of all New Yorkers so everyone can lead healthy lives, regardless of who they are, where they are from, or where they live.

We recognize that historic and contemporary injustices in government, health care, and other institutions have deepened distrust and contributed to individual and collective trauma, while exacerbating inequities across health conditions.

We acknowledge that Black, Latino, Indigenous, and all people of color continue to experience and resist the daily impact and reality of years of disinvestment, racism, biased treatment, and oppression.

We are committed to addressing structural racism and all forms of oppression, centering justice within our organization, and ensuring antiracist practices are embedded and operationalized throughout our agency.

Through the implementation of community-centered public health solutions, we aim to eliminate health inequities and increase to its highest-ever level the life expectancy of all our city’s residents.

In October 2021, the New York City Board of Health passed a resolution that declared racism as a public health crisis.

Our History

2025 marks the 220th anniversary of the New York City Health Department.

On January 17, 1805, the Common Council (the predecessor to today’s NYC Council) appointed a New York City Board of Health, which consisted of three state-appointed health commissioners.

Another big moment came on February 26, 1866, when the New York State legislature passed a new public health law that created the Metropolitan Board of Health, the first municipal public health authority in the U.S. The new Board unified surrounding cities and encompassed Kings, Richmond, Westchester, part of Queens, and New York counties.

Both of these milestones were born of efforts to combat infectious epidemics — yellow fever in the early 1800s and cholera in the mid-1800s.

Our third major milestone occurred on April 5, 1870, when New York State passed legislation that created the Department of Health, which now granted the Mayor authority to appoint the Commissioner. The Health Department was separate from the new Board of Health, which would operate as its overseeing body.

Historical Timeline

  • 1804: New York City Inspector’s Office established to track mortality statistics
  • 1805: NYC Board of Health created to combat yellow fever
  • 1842: NYC begins reliable access to fresh water from the Croton reservoir
  • 1866: New public health law passed, creating the Metropolitan Board of Health, uniting New York county with surrounding counties
  • 1870: Department of Health, most similar to present-day NYC Health, is created, with four administrative bureaus and a Board of Health to oversee it
  • 1870s: Commissioner Chandler appoints first milk inspector, opens laboratory
  • 1884: Department of Health creates Division of Food Inspection and Offensive Trades
  • 1892: Health Department opens Bacteriological Laboratory, first municipal laboratory in the world to routinely diagnose disease
  • 1895: Health Department begins offering diphtheria antitoxin free of charge to poor New Yorkers
  • 1900: 810,000 New Yorkers vaccinated in smallpox vaccination campaign
  • 1901: Health Department workers drain areas   in outer boroughs to fight malaria
  • 1904: Health Department opens tuberculosis clinics; municipal sanitorium opened in 1906
  • 1906: Health Department begins inspection of dairies
  • 1907: “Typhoid Mary” is traced, confined at North Brother Island 
  • 1915: Health Districts proposed; begins as pilot project on Lower East Side  
  • 1915: Bureau of Public Health Education created; begins printing publications, producing films to disseminate health information
  • 1916: Department imposes quarantines and sets up clinics during polio epidemic
  • 1919: Commissioner Copeland sets up innovative drug treatment program 
  • 1921: First District Health Center (later renamed “Action Centers”) opens in Harlem under new Health District plan
  • 1926: Chest X-rays begin at TB clinics 
  • 1928: Bureau of Nursing created
  • 1934: Bureau of Social Hygiene created to combat venereal diseases  
  • 1935: Health Department headquarters built at 125 Worth Street 
  • 1936: “Premature Centers” and ambulance service created for premature infants
  • 1942: Bureau of Records microfilms all birth and death records in case New York City is attacked in World War II
  • 1946: Food Inspection Bureau cracks down on poor restaurant sanitation  
  • 1947: 6.3 million New Yorkers vaccinated against smallpox in a single month
  • 1949: Department establishes Bureau of Nutrition 
  • 1954: Salk polio vaccine tested in New York
  • 1955: Department establishes Poison Control Center with hotline
  • 1960: NYC ban on interior lead-based paint goes into effect
  • 1965: Department opens maternal care clinics with family planning services  
  • 1969: Department begins lead poisoning prevention program, which becomes a bureau in 1970
  • 1976: Landlords required to install window guards in apartments with children; law reduces window fall deaths by more than 98 percent
  • 1981: NYC disease detectives begin to track spread of AIDS epidemic  
  • 1983: Department creates Office of Gay and Lesbian Health
  • 1985: Health Department begins offering free anonymous AIDS tests  
  • 1988: Health Department implements needle exchange program to curb HIV spread among people who use drugs
  • 1991: Program   begins to improve asthma treatment for city’s children 
  • 1996: Tuberculosis control efforts, first begun in 1992, drastically reduce cases in city  
  • 1995: Animal Control Center launches
  • 1999: Department’s disease detectives track West Nile virus  
  • 2001: Department responds to September 11 attacks and anthrax threats post-9/11
  • 2001: World Trade Center Health Registry created to track long-term impacts associated with 9/11
  • 2002:  Merger creates Department of Health and Mental Hygiene  
  • 2003: NYC restaurants and bars become smoke-free  
  • 2003: Additional District Health Centers (later renamed “Action Centers”) open in Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx  
  • 2004: Take Care New York, an initiative to improve health and reduce health disparities, launches
  • 2005: Establishment of the Rat Academy to combat rodents in NYC 
  • 2007: Health Department begins distributing free NYC Condoms to New Yorkers 
  • 2010: Restaurant grading begins in New York City

Additional Resources

Job Description

Freshman/Sophomore College Aide IA

The Center for Health Equity & Community Wellness (CHECW) seeks to eliminate racial and other inequities resulting in premature mortality. With an unwavering grounding in history and structural analysis, CHECW works to increase visibility of the harm perpetuated by centuries of racist, socially unjust policy while pushing towards redress for the most impacted NYC communities. CHECW addresses inequity across community and healthcare systems in partnership with community, faith based, and health care organizations. CHECW’s work focuses on social determinants of health, including environmental and commercial determinants, and addresses both upstream and downstream factors to improve health and well being of New Yorkers. CHECW’ is comprised of the Bureau of Bronx Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Harlem Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention, the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building, the Bureau of Equitable Health Systems, the Bureau of Finance, Administration and Services. The division’s Deputy Commissioner also serves as the Agency’s Chief Medical Officer.

The Bureau of Finance, Administration and Services seeks to hire a Freshman/Sophomore College Aide IA The College Aide will assist with critical task such as run financial reports daily and assist with the clean up of Contracts/Purchase Orders.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
Run Financial reports daily. Review invoices/supporting documents. Clean up prior years remaining balances in Contracts/POs. Review invoices/supporting documents. Ensure that invoices, supporting documents comply with approved Contracts/PO budget lines. Review invoices, supporting documents to determine validity of items being invoices. Teamwork and collaboration: asking questions, incorporating feedback, contributing to the group environment. Review calculations of items being invoices (deliverable based Contracts/POs). Create Budget trackers for POs and Contracts.

PREFERRED SKILLS:
Teamwork and collaboration: asking questions, incorporating feedback, contributing to the group environment.
Basic Knowledge in Excel spreadsheets and Microsoft Office.
General understanding of Accounting Principles is a plus.

Why you should work for us:

-Loan Forgiveness: As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal/state loan forgiveness and repayment assistance programs that lessen your payments or even fully forgive your full balance. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website (https://studentaid.gov/pslf/)
– Benefits: City employees are entitled to unmatched benefits such as:
o a premium-free health insurance plan that saves employees over $10K annually, per a 2024 assessment.
o additional health, fitness, and financial benefits may be available based on the position’s associated union/benefit fund.
o a public sector defined benefit pension plan with steady monthly payments in retirement.
o a tax-deferred savings program and
o a robust Worksite Wellness Program that offers resources and opportunities to keep you healthy while serving New Yorkers.
– Work From Home Policy: Depending on your position, you may be able to work up to two days during the week from home.
– Job Security – you could enjoy more job security compared to private sector employment and be able to contribute to making NYC a healthy place to live and work.

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the U.S., dedicated to protecting and improving the health of NYC. Our mission is to safeguard the health of every resident and cultivate a city where everyone, regardless of age, background, or location, can achieve their optimal health. We provide a wide array of programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and social justice initiatives. As the primary population health strategist and policy authority for NYC, with a rich history of public health initiatives and scientific advancements, from addressing the 1822 yellow fever outbreak to the COVID-19 pandemic, we serve as a global leader in public health innovation and expertise.

Come join us and help to continue our efforts in making a difference in the lives of all New Yorkers!

The NYC Health Department is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation to all individuals. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact Sye-Eun Ahn, Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, at [email protected] or 347-396-6549.

COLLEGE AIDE (ALL CITY DEPTS) – 10209

Minimum Qualifications

For Assignment Level I:
Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school. Employment is conditioned upon continuance as a student in a college or graduate school.
For Assignment Level II (Information Technology):
Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school. Employment is conditioned upon continuance as a student in a college or graduate school with a specific course of study in information technology, computer science, management information systems, data processing, or closely related field, including or supplemented by 9 semester credits in an acceptable course of study.
For Assignment Level III (Information Technology Fellow):
Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school. Employment is conditioned upon continuance as a student in a college or graduate school with a specific course of study in information technology, computer science, management information systems, data processing, or other area relevant to the information technology project(s) assigned, including or supplemented by 9 semester credits in an acceptable course of study. Appointments to this Assignment Level will be made by the Technology Steering Committee through the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

SPECIAL NOTE
Maximum tenure for all Assignment Levels in the title of College Aide is 6 years. No student shall be employed more than half-time in any week in which classes in which the student is enrolled are in session. Students may be employed full-time during their vacation periods.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual’s sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

About DFS

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) was established in 2011 when the Legislature merged the former Departments of Insurance and Banking. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the goal was to create a more efficient, comprehensive financial regulator to oversee the financial services industry, better protect consumers, and encourage economic growth in the financial capital of the world. Today, DFS is considered one of the premier financial regulators in the world.

The Department regulates the activities of over 3,000 financial institutions with nearly $10 trillion in assets. This includes over 1,900 insurance companies with assets of more than $6.4 trillion, including property and casualty insurance companies, life insurance companies, health insurers and managed care organizations, and pharmacy benefit managers. DFS also regulates more than 1,300 banks and financial institutions with assets totaling more than $3.3 trillion, including 120 foreign banks and 15 Global Systemically Important Banks, credit unions, money services businesses, credit reporting agencies, and student loan servicers.

The Department was the first U.S. regulator to start licensing virtual currency companies and has since developed a world-leading virtual currency regulatory framework. To support the Department’s role as the prudential regulator of virtual currency, Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris has built one of the largest virtual currency regulatory teams in the world. DFS was also the first to institute comprehensive cybersecurity regulations for financial services companies and led the nation in establishing a standalone Climate Division.

The Department – which has 1,359 staff and a budget of $344,750,000 – not only plays an important role in the financial sector of New York State’s economy, it also leads the nation in developing policy that fosters fair and modern financial regulation.

Updated December 2024

DFS's Regulatory Oversight Graphic

Learn more about the Institutions We Supervise and use our “Who We Supervise” search tool to find out whether a person or financial institution is regulated and/or licensed by DFS, and what additional locations or branches they may have.

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Leadership

Leadership

Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris was nominated to lead the New York State Department of Financial Services by Governor Kathy Hochul in August 2021 and confirmed by the New York State Senate on January 25, 2022.

During her time with the Department, Superintendent Harris has taken decisive actions on defining issues impacting the financial services sector, including the widespread application of AI, cybersecurity, digital currency, and the 2023 banking crisis. Under her leadership, DFS has been laser focused on kitchen table issues, consumer restitution, and ensuring the financial and health care systems are more equitable and accessible for all New Yorkers. Since August 2021, DFS has recovered more than $630 million in restitution for New York State consumers and health care providers; issued 96 regulatory guidance letters; and adopted 53 banking, insurance, and financial services regulations, including regulations to reduce check-cashing fees, update DFS’s nation-leading cybersecurity regulation, and set foundational criteria for USD-backed stablecoins.

Within the Department, Superintendent Harris has focused on fostering a culture of operational excellence; adopting a data-driven approach to policy; strengthening stakeholder engagement and collaboration and implementing strategic recruitment, including by hiring DFS’s first Chief Technology Officer, establishing the Department’s first Data Governance unit, and establishing the first standalone Climate Division within a state financial regulator.

Superintendent Harris is the first New York State representative to serve on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and also serves on the Board of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). Superintendent Harris is a frequent speaker at major conferences around the globe.

Career

Superintendent Harris began her career as an Associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York representing a number of U.S. and non-U.S. based corporations in various forms of litigation and regulatory matters, before accepting a position at the United States Department of the Treasury under President Obama.

While at the Treasury Department, Superintendent Harris served as a Senior Advisor to both Acting Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Mary Miller and Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin. Her work ranged from financial reform efforts to identifying solutions to the student loan crisis, analyzing the nexus between foreign investment and national security, and working to promote financial inclusion and health in communities throughout the country.

Following her time at the Treasury Department, Superintendent Harris joined The White House, where she was appointed as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy as part of the National Economic Council. In this role, she managed the financial services portfolio, which included developing and executing strategies for financial reform and the implementation of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as consumer protections for the American public, cybersecurity, and housing finance reform priorities.

After leaving the White House in January 2017, Superintendent Harris went on to serve as General Counsel and Chief Business Officer at insurance start-up DOMA. She also served as a Professor of the Practice and as Faculty Co-Director at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy’s Center on Finance, Law and Policy at the University of Michigan, as well as a Senior Advisor at the Brunswick Group.

Superintendent Harris graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and subsequently earned her Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review, and a Master’s in Business Administration from New York University with specializations in Economics and Management.

Updated January 2025

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Liquidation Bureau

Liquidation Bureau

The New York Liquidation Bureau (NYLB) is a private organization serving the public interest by managing the receiverships of insolvent insurance estates in New York State courts. 

Receiving no funding from taxpayers, it carries out the responsibilities of the Superintendent of Financial Services as Receiver, Adrienne A. Harris, in the discharging of the Superintendent’s statutorily defined duties to protect the interests of the policyholders and creditors of insurance companies that have been declared impaired or insolvent.

The NYLB has performed this function since 1909, when the New York State Legislature passed the law mandating that the Superintendent of Financial Services assume the separate responsibility of Receiver. In the case of each insurance company in receivership, the Superintendent as Receiver is appointed by the New York State Supreme Court. The Court approves all the actions of the Superintendent, and by extension those of the NYLB. The Superintendent as Receiver also serves as administrator of the Property/Casualty Insurance Security Fund, Public Motor Vehicle Liability Security Fund, and Workers’ Compensation Security Fund.

NYLB’s staff of more than 100 attorneys, accountants, and insurance professionals recover assets, manage claims, and handle the affairs of insolvent insurance receiverships under Article 74 of the New York Insurance Law.

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Our Mission

Our Mission

The New York State Department of Financial Services seeks to build an equitable, transparent, and resilient financial system that benefits individuals and supports business. Through engagement, data-driven regulation and policy, and operational excellence, the Department and its employees are responsible for empowering consumers and protecting them from financial harm; ensuring the health of the entities we regulate; driving economic growth in New York through responsible innovation; and preserving the stability of the global financial system.

Policy

DFS values: Equitable – Innovative – Collaborative – Transparent

These values help guide DFS as it carries out its critical work in financial services.

  • Equitable: In addition to protecting the safety and soundness of the financial system, DFS must also focus on the kitchen table issues that have a direct impact on our day-to-day lives, with fairness and equity top of mind.
  • Innovative: DFS must be innovative in its approach to supervising the industry, harnessing data and technology to drive more efficient, effective policymaking.
  • Collaborative: DFS, as a preeminent global financial regulator, must work hand-in-hand with other state, federal and international regulators, as well as with advocates, industry and other stakeholders.
  • Transparent: DFS must be transparent in order to receive trust from the people to carry out the mission.

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Our History

Our History

On October 3, 2011 the New York State Banking Department and the New York State Insurance Department were abolished and the functions and authority of both former agencies transferred to the New York State Department of Financial Services.

The legislation that created the Department of Financial Services is known as the Financial Services Law.

The purpose of consolidating these two agencies and creating the Department of Financial Services or DFS is to modernize regulation by allowing the agency to oversee a broader array of financial products and services, rather than the previous system of limiting regulation to services provided by only certain types of institutions.

The New York State Banking Department

In 1791, the New York State legislature authorized a charter for the first state bank, the Bank of New York.

A law in 1829 set up a Bank Fund later renamed the Safety Fund, to guarantee the payment of debts of insolvent state banks. All State-chartered banks were required to make an annual contribution to this fund, which was managed by the State treasurer. That same law provided for the appointment of three bank commissioners to examine the financial status of these banks and to report annually to the legislature.

The Banking Law of 1838 required banks to file certificates of incorporation with the Secretary of State and to report annually to the State Comptroller.

In 1843, the Comptroller was authorized to examine a bank only when there was reason to suspect an incorrect report had been submitted or was in an unsafe and unsound condition to continue business.

The Banking Department was created by the New York state legislature on April 15, 1851. Until it was abolished in 2011, the New York State Banking Department was the oldest bank regulatory agency in the nation.

The New York State Insurance Department

Until 1849, insurance companies doing business in New York State were chartered by special acts of the Legislature. A law was passed that year requiring prospective insurance companies to file incorporation papers with the Secretary of State. The law also vested regulatory power over insurance companies with the State Comptroller, who was authorized to require the companies to submit annual financial statements and to deny a company the right to operate if capital securities and investments did not remain secure.

The Insurance Department was created in 1859 by the New York State Legislature and assumed the functions of the Comptroller and Secretary of State relating to insurance. The Department began operations in 1860.

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Our Boards

Our Boards

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Newsroom

Newsroom

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