ISO and GRC certification consulting in New York

ISO and GRC certification in New York at a glance

New York certification work tends to start with someone else's questionnaire. A bank sends a vendor-risk review, a hospital asks for a security attestation, a distributor at Hunts Point needs proof of food-safety control, and a landlord looks at Local Law 97. The Comptroller counts more securities-industry jobs here than in any other US city, the Port Authority's terminals and airports move goods through the region, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard houses lab, food, electronics and energy businesses. Sterling's New York office helps companies in all five boroughs turn those requests into working management systems: ISO standards, SOC reports, HIPAA and PCI DSS programmes, with Effivity and Sterling Academy included with the engagement. The certificate or report is issued by an accredited certification body, CPA firm or assessor that you appoint. Choose a standard below to see how it applies in the city.

New York City is the country's densest financial centre and one of its busiest trading gateways. The State Comptroller counts a record number of securities-industry jobs in the city, the Port Authority runs the regional port and airports, and Hunts Point in the Bronx holds one of the largest food distribution centres in the world. Industrial pockets in Brooklyn add manufacturing and laboratory space.

Standards Sterling delivers in New York

Each page sets out why the standard is asked for in New York, what it requires and how Sterling delivers it locally. National law and accreditation are covered on the United States page.

Industries in New York that ask for certification

• Financial services and securities: The New York State Comptroller reports that employment in the city's securities industry reached a record in 2024 and that New York has more securities jobs than any other US city. Standards asked for: ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, SOC 1, PCI DSS, ISO 22301
• Food distribution, processing and storage: The Hunts Point Food Distribution Center covers 329 acres of the Bronx peninsula, and the Fulton Fish Market moved there in 2005; the Health Department issues a separate permit for non-retail food processing, storage and packing. Standards asked for: HACCP, ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, ISO 9001, ISO 45001
• Port, air cargo and trade logistics: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey describes the port as the largest on the East Coast, with six container terminals including Red Hook in Brooklyn, and publishes air cargo information for its airports. Standards asked for: ISO 9001, ISO 22301, ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO/IEC 27001
• Urban manufacturing, laboratories and energy technology: The Brooklyn Navy Yard's business directory groups its tenants into categories such as food, lab and medtech, electronics, power and energy, robotics, maritime and metal fabrication. Standards asked for: ISO 13485, ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001
• Large buildings under the city's emissions law: Local Law 97 of 2019 sets annual greenhouse gas emissions limits for certain buildings, and the Department of Buildings has revised the limits using Energy Star Portfolio Manager property types. Standards asked for: ISO 50001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001

Industrial areas and zones in New York

• Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, Bronx (food distribution centre within the Special Hunts Point District, a City Planning zoning district written to support the food industry): produce, seafood, meat, food distribution
• Brooklyn Navy Yard (industrial campus managed by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, whose stated mission includes growing the city's modern industrial sector): manufacturing, lab and medtech, food, electronics, energy, robotics
• Red Hook Container Terminal, Brooklyn (container terminal in the Port of New York and New Jersey, one of six container terminals served by the Port Authority): containerised cargo
• Foreign-Trade Zone No. 1, New York (foreign-trade zone with the City of New York as grantee, active, serving the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island): importers, exporters, distribution
• Industrial Business Zones (the city's 21 Industrial Business Zones, which carry a relocation tax credit for industrial and manufacturing firms moving into them): industrial, manufacturing

Local authorities

• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection: Enforces Local Law 144 of 2021: employers and employment agencies may not use an automated employment decision tool unless it has had a bias audit within the previous year, a summary is public and notices have been given.
• NYC Department of Buildings: Administers annual greenhouse gas emissions limits for covered buildings under Local Law 97 of 2019.
• NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Permits food service and non-retail food processing establishments; a food service establishment running a specialised process under Health Code section 81.06 must submit a HACCP plan for approval.

National laws, regulators and accreditation are on the United States page.

Ports and logistics

• Port: Port of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority), with Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn
• Airport: John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty, both with Port Authority air cargo facilities

Importers, freight forwarders and warehouse operators in the city handle goods that arrive through the Port Authority's terminals and airports, so customers regularly ask for quality, safety and continuity evidence.

Sterling in New York

Sterling's New York office. One team carries the work from scoping to certificate, with Effivity ISO & GRC software and preferential Sterling Academy access, with complimentary awareness training for your people. Sterling does not certify; certification decisions stay with independent bodies.

Nearby cities

• Los Angeles
• Chicago
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Dallas-Fort Worth
• Houston
• Washington DC

What the standards require, clause by clause

Before you start in New York, read what each clause and subclause requires of you, how to implement it, the evidence auditors look for and the mistakes to avoid.

Questions New York clients ask