By Gail Robinson
September 22, 2011
For many months, the Bloomberg administration has boasted that as poverty rose elsewhere in the country, it remained constant here, thanks in part to his policies.
Unfortunately, he can no longer say that.
New census figures, as reported in the Times this morning, show that poverty rose more rapidly in New York City – by 1.4 percentage points — than in the nation as a whole from 2009 to 2010. This brought the number of people living in poverty in the city to 20.1 percent, the highest level since 2000. Child poverty rose even more – by 3 percentage points – leaving three out of every 10 city children in homes below the poverty level.
A report by Alliance for a Greater New York said the situation may be even worse than those numbers would indicate because of the high cost of living in New York – a luxury brand, as the mayor has called it.
Incomes across the city fell by 5 percent. But some people continue to do very well. In Manhattan – the county in the country with the biggest income gap – the average earning of the top fifth of the population came to $371,754,
While deploring this high level of poverty, advocates quickly responded that the figures only confirm what they see every day – an increasing level of need in the city. More homeless. Longer lines at soup kitchens and food pantries. People desperate for work.
More reaction and a review of Bloomberg administration poverty policies after the jump….
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