Number of New Yorkers In, or Near, Poverty Continues to Rise

Despite the end of the recession, the number of New Yorkers in, or near, poverty continues to creep up, with 46 percent of the city's residents making less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold, reports Sam Roberts.

1 minute read

April 22, 2013, 9:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"The rise in New York City’s poverty rate as a result of the recession has apparently eased, but not before pushing nearly half of the city’s population into the ranks of the poor or near-poor in 2011, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg administration," writes Roberts.

"The city’s analysis warned that cutbacks in federal programs could threaten any recovery and place pressure on the next mayor to maintain or expand public assistance," he adds.

“The next mayor is going to face a very difficult budget situation in which he or she will struggle to maintain basic services and have little room to expand welfare-related programs or services to needy New Yorkers, a fiscal situation that is getting very little attention in the current mayoral race,” said Steven Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a conservative group.

Sunday, April 21, 2013 in The New York Times

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