A fairy tale and movie-themed gingerbread house creation, featuring a reindeer, made by pastry students of the San Ysidro Adult School Culinary Arts program is pictured during their 9th annual gingerbread house competition in San Ysidro, California December 9, 2014. The students' voting results will be delivered back to their class but the official judging will be performed by chefs and culinary experts during the 9th annual event. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

In this photo released by the Alaska National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard soldiers use a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to removed an abandoned bus, popularized by the book and movie “Into the Wild”, out of its location in the Alaska backcountry Thursday, June 18, 2020, as part of a training mission. Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige, in a release, said the bus will be kept in a secure location while her department weighs various options for what to do with it. (Photo by Sgt. Seth LaCount/Alaska National Guard via AP Photo)

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.

Replica of an old traditional Icelandic house from the 1800 with eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, 2013. (Photo by Ingólfur Bjargmundsson/Getty Images)

Labourers who work nearby nap on a road as cars drive past in Chongqing Municipality, July 23, 2013. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Four men dressed as zombies participate in a Zombie Walk procession in the streets of Paris October 12, 2013. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

A young Free Syrian Army fighter holds a rifle in Haresta neighbourhood of Damascus January 16, 2013. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)