In New York City, one needs a license to offer a weight-reduction class, to repair videocassette recorders or install ventilation systems, to work as an usher or sell tickets at wrestling matches, to work as a security guard or remove and dump snow and ice, or to set up a parking lot or a junk shop. Cosmetologists require 1,000 hours of training to become licensed, compared with 116 hours to qualify as an emergency medical technician and 47 hours to become an armed security guard. The going rate for a taxi medallion, which authorizes drivers to pick up passengers on the streets of New York, is over $200,000.

†