New York City is populated with millions of people that each serve as an essential piece of the city's eclectic pie. The Big Apple's offering of unique and diverse individuals is arguably unmatched. We always hear about what a melting pot this immense metropolis is with its endless supply of quirky characters and the ongoing photo series known as Humans of New York proves it.

In the 1970′s, actress and model Tippi Hedren (mother of actress Melanie Griffith) created the Shambala Preserve after producing the film Roar. The preserve rescued exotic big cats living in captivity that had been abused or were in need of help, one of which the family created a close bond with. Neil the lion lived with the family in their home, and played an active role in the day to day activities of the preserve.

Two young boys kneel on stools on either side of a round table as one uses a match to this the other's cigarette, November 12, 1928. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

Boys eat at a rubbish dump where they are collecting recyclable waste outside Yemen's Red Sea port city of Houdieda January 20, 2016. (Photo by Abduljabbar Zeyad/Reuters)

A boy works on a car in Babi Kouakou's car repair garage in Bouake, Ivory Coast February 9, 2016. Babi specialises in restoring old cars. (Photo by Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters)

Boys ride a motorbike on their way back home after taking a bath in a canal at Chachura village, in Uttar Pradesh April 4, 2012. (Photo by Parivartan Sharma/Reuters)

Boys play with water as they celebrate Myanmar's New Year Water Festival of Thingyan in Yangon, April 13, 2016. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Calling themselves the Gaza skate team, a group of young Palestinians get together to skate and rollerblade amid deprivation and high security. Here: Palestinian boys of Gaza skating Team rollerblade on a street in Gaza City March 8, 2019. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)