BY ROBERT SAMMONS

New York City has been whipped around over the past couple of months, and though the number of jobs has declined since August, the naked city is still near a record-high figure of 3,887,100 jobs as of the end of October.

Health services remains the largest industry by employment, with 601,600 positions, or 16 percent of the total jobs. That just beats out trade, transport and utilities with 15 percent (thank those retail workers for that), and government (certain to remain in the top three despite all of the fiscal cliff talk) with 14 percent. The biggest gainer in terms of absolute numbers has been leisure and hospitality which has added more than 100,000 positions in the past 10 years alone.

On the other end of the spectrum is manufacturing, which, not surprisingly, has been slammed hard and now makes up just 2 percent of total jobs, or 73,900 positions (as recently as 1997, there were more than 265,000 positions in the field). Professional and business services, along with information, have certainly shored up the office side of the employment equation recently, thanks to a wide variety of TAMI (technology/advertising/media/information) businesses.

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BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM

For better or worse, ever since the construction of the High Line Park,existing tenants on Manhattan’s far West Side have felt its effects. Some have reaped the benefits of added pedestrian traffic, while others have faced the sting of being squeezed out of the area thanks to escalating rents.

At Heller Gallery, a hub for contemporary glass sculpture that’s been housed at the base of 420 West 14th Street since 1973,the latter has become an unfortunate reality. While their lease on the 3,600-square-foot gallery isn’t set to expire until July, owners have ex- pressed interest in leaving sooner, citing the rising cost of operating in the Meatpacking District.

As leasing agent at the six-story, E.B.S.-owned building, Winick Realty Group Director Kelly Gedinsky has been tout-ing the asset’s great location and high ceiling in her marketing campaign to would-be retailers. After the jump, Ms. Gedinsky reviews the floor plan with The Commercial Observer and discusses what, exactly, will draw future tenants to the space once Heller Gallery vacates early next year.

To see the Hellery Gallery floor plan,click here.

BY BILLY GRAY

The 30 Under 30 issue is the perfect time for The Commercial Observer to propose a battle of wits between young brokers and their (relatively) veteran mentors.

In our attempt at mimicking Trivial Pursuit, we’ve come up with questions spanning technical industry minutiae, the real estate loyalties of New York’s finest rappers and History 101 that should be familiar to real estate professionals young and old. After the jump, Commercial Observer staff writer Billy Gray provides the questions and answers.

To see the quiz,click here.

BY BILLY GRAY

The Malaysian bank Malayan Banking Berhad is expanding at 400 Park Avenue. The company commonly known as Maybank originally subleased part of the 9th floor of the 22-story building on Park Avenue at 58th Street in 1984. Now, it will move into 14,812 square feet of office space occupying the entire 11th floor in a new lease direct with owner Waterman Interests.

Daniel Horowitz and Gary Kerper of Studley represented Maybank while Drew Isaacson represented Waterman in-house. Mr. Horowitz said that discussions had been taking place over the last year.

Asking rents at 400 Park Avenue range from $80 per square foot on the base floors to $100 per square foot on the top floor.

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