New York may be the most linguistically varied city on earth, and the number of translation companies in New York reflects that. Finding a vendor is not the hard part.
Telling them apart is, because every website promises accuracy, fast turnaround and hundreds of languages.
This piece covers five firms serving the New York market, what each one actually specializes in, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything.
1. Eriksen Translations
Relevant Page: https://eriksen.com/
Eriksen Translations is a Brooklyn agency whose foundation is in financial services, and which has since built an equally recognized practice with museums, nonprofits and public agencies.
Vigdis Eriksen, a Norwegian translator, founded the company in 1986, and it has operated from 360 Court Street in downtown Brooklyn since. 2026 marks its fortieth year. It works in more than 100 languages, and CSA Research has ranked it among the world’s top 75 language service providers.
The firm is certified as a woman-owned business enterprise by WBENC and by both the City and State of New York, which matters for organizations with supplier diversity requirements in their procurement rules. Its client base spans finance and insurance, law, healthcare, education, nonprofits, museums and cultural institutions, and New York City and State agencies.
Core Translation and Interpretation Services
- Translation and localization across 100-plus languages
- Interpreting, including live remote interpreting for virtual meetings
- On-demand translation of ethics, compliance and whistleblower hotline submissions
- Transcreation, transcription, voiceover, subtitling and multilingual typesetting
- WBE certification through WBENC and the City and State of New York
2. Capital Linguists
Relevant Location Page: https://capitallinguists.com/new-york/
Capital Linguists is an interpreting and translation agency built around conference and high-stakes spoken work rather than document volume.
The company was founded in 2015 by Philip Rosen, a Chinese conference interpreter who worked in the field for roughly a decade before starting the agency. That background shapes what the firm does. Alongside general translation, it handles simultaneous and consecutive interpreting for conferences, diplomatic meetings and business negotiations, and supplies the equipment that goes with them.
Core Translation and Interpretation Services
- Certified and standard document translation, including contracts, agreements and court documents
- Transcription of audio and video recordings, including meetings, interviews and legal proceedings
- Simultaneous interpreting for conferences, investor days and large meetings
- Consecutive interpreting for depositions, negotiations and small-group discussion
- Escort interpreting for site visits, delegations and multi-day meetings
- Conference interpreting supported by the firm’s own infrared and radiofrequency equipment
- Interpretation equipment rental with on-site technical support
- Legal translation and interpretation across 200-plus languages
- Credentialed interpreters for federal court proceedings and healthcare settings
- Rare and less commonly spoken language interpreting, with interpreters working onsite alongside clients
- Coverage across 200-plus languages
3. Geneva Worldwide
Relevant Page: https://www.genevaworldwide.com/
Geneva Worldwide is the oldest agency of its kind in New York and the one built for interpreting at scale.
The company dates to 1903 and operates from Manhattan with a core staff of around 30. Its network runs to roughly 8,000 linguists, which is what allows it to staff high-volume, unpredictable demand rather than scheduled projects. It is listed on the GSA schedule for interpreting, translation and transcription services to the federal government, holds ISO 9001 certification, and has been re-awarded New York State agency contracts.
The public-sector work is substantial, including support for the New York City Department of Education. That experience is directly relevant if your organization is subject to New York City’s language access requirements, which oblige covered agencies to provide services in a set of designated citywide languages.
Core Translation and Interpretation Services
- In-person, video remote and over-the-phone interpreting
- American Sign Language interpreting and CART captioning
- Document translation, transcription and website localization
- Language access plan development for agencies with compliance obligations
- GSA schedule listing, ISO 9001 certification and New York State contract awards
4. Morningside
Relevant Location Page: http://morningtrans.com
Morningside is a New York translation and localization company known primarily for legal and intellectual property work, and one of the largest patent translation providers in the world.
It was founded in 2000 in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and remains headquartered in New York, with additional offices in San Francisco, London, Hamburg and Tel Aviv. It employs roughly 250 people and reports more than 4,000 clients across 55 countries. It holds both ISO 17100 for translation quality and ISO 27001 for information security.
One thing to state plainly rather than leave implied: Morningside was acquired in 2021 by Questel, a French intellectual property software and services group, and now operates as part of it. The firm expanded into interpreting through its acquisition of Translations, and offers translation and interpretation in more than 200 languages.
Patent translation is a genuinely distinct specialty. It carries requirements around terminology consistency and filing-office formatting that general document translation does not, and firms that do it regularly tend to do it noticeably better.
Core Translation and Interpretation Services
Patent translation prepared to filing-office formatting requirements
Foreign filing services including PCT national phase entry, EP validation and Paris Convention filing
Legal translation and interpretation across 200-plus languages
Life sciences, medical and corporate compliance translation
ISO 17100 and ISO 27001 certification
5. Star Interpreting & Translating
Relevant Location Page: https://starinterpreting.com/
Star Interpreting & Translating is one of the longest-running interpreting agencies in the New York area, with a strong concentration in legal work.
Estrella Jacobowitz founded the company in New York City in 1980, and it is Hispanic-owned and woman-owned. Its core team is described as more than 400 interpreters and translators working across 150 languages. That is a network figure rather than a payroll one, since the in-house staff is small, which is the normal structure for an agency of this type.
Its legal practice covers depositions, independent medical examinations, examinations under oath, trials and arbitrations, and its client list includes law firms across New York City and New Jersey. It also works regularly in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Core Translation and Interpretation Services
- Court and legal interpreting for depositions, independent medical examinations, examinations under oath, trials and arbitrations
- Simultaneous interpreting for corporate meetings and conferences
- Certified translation for court and official use
- Coverage across 150 languages, including less commonly requested ones such as Temne, Sinhala, Tamil and Yoruba
- Hispanic-owned and woman-owned business
Choosing the Right Fit:
There is no single best translation and interpretation company in New York, because the work varies too much. A museum exhibition catalogue, a federal deposition, a patent filing and a subtitled corporate video call for four different vendors. Match the provider to the shape of the job rather than to the length of its client list, and the shortlist narrows itself.
The firms above are established and checkable. What separates a good outcome from a poor one is usually how precisely the requirement was defined before anyone quoted.
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