Gap between rich & poor in NYC widest ever: Top 1% takes 44% of income

[Hannah Bell]

Some armchair economists like to argue that a rising tide lifts all boats, but these days the tide's just lifting the yachts, and the rest of us are actually working for minimum wage to manually raise the tide with buckets. According to a new study from the Fiscal Policy Institute, the gap between the rich and poor was widened dramatically in NYC ever since the middle class's post-war golden era ended with the Reagan era. Since 1990, the income share of the top 1 percent of New Yorkers has doubled from 21.5 percent to 44 percent—this is almost double the historically high national level of 23.5 percent.

This is also the first time that an economic "recovery" has not restored family incomes and median wages to the peak of the previous business cycle...FPI's Chief Economist James Parrott says:

In New York City, there are about 34,500 households, representing about 90,000 people, in the top 1 percent. On average, these households have annual incomes of $3.7 million. At the same time, about 900,000 people in New York City—about 10.5 percent of city residents—live in deep poverty. Deep poverty is half of the federal poverty line; for a four-person family, that means an income of $10,500. An annual income of $3.7 million translates into a daily level of $10,137—more than the average annual family income of those living in deep poverty...

http://gothamist.com/2011/01/19/divide_between_rich_and_poor_in_nyc.php



And the top 1% in the state takes 35% of all income.

This is where Cuomo is crowing about laying off state employees because "there's noooooo money!".

More for him & his peeps.

[suffragette]

1. This is obscene

ad the gap grows ever wider.

K&R

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. +1

[MrSlayer]

2. All by design.

And all by the direction of bought off politicians in BOTH parties. There are a few good ones and all of the good ones are in the Democratic party except for the best one who is a democratic socialist. But pretending that Democrats as a whole are on our side is incredibly naive. They are as scummy as the Republicans.

[DrDan]

3. I don't see how this ever stops - that 30-year trend chart is frightening

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. '96 Congress. Newt?

Any questions?

[xchrom]

5. it's destroying or has destroyed The Great Urban Melting pot.

a place where the rich and poor and everyone in between mingled shoulder to shoulder.

slowly - these numbers push others out -- making a far less interesting vibrant place.

[megax5000]

6. don't worry

That wealth will eventually trickle down.

[blindpig]

8. Why should the people have to wait?

After all, it was they who created the wealth.

[Selatius]

7. This could be corrected by making property taxes progressive.

Instead of having a traditional flat rate property tax, they should establish a progressive taxing scheme except with property taxes. Property taxes need not be a burden on the working poor and the besieged middle class. It is just that the wealthy are over-represented in many municipal city councils, and they will necessarily vote such schemes down.

[maryf]

9. K&R and thank you, thank you, thank you

your research will be shared...Cuomo supposedly has an open door policy...he might want to change that soon...

[erodriguez]

12. Cuomo cut taxes for the rich already. He is one of the bad guys.

[maryf]

16. Of course he is! That's why he might regret having an open door policy...

some of us might go in and tell him some things he won't like hearing...I voted for Hawkins...

[erodriguez]

22. Yep I voted for Hawkins as well.

And I told all my family and friends why.

I'm not sure how much an open door policy Cuomo has. He seems to love back door meetings with his corporate funders.

[maryf]

23. lol!

I'm sure it's just one door, when there's press around... :fistbump:

[butterfly77]

10. ...

[Initech]

11. One of these days the tides are gonna turn.

[sarcasmo]

13. Wait until the states are allowed to file bankruptcy, this gap will get even wider.

[Starry Messenger]

14. k&r

[erodriguez]

15. Brooklyn Point of View

When I go food shopping in my neighborhood, I realize that I am one of the few people who does not use an EBT card.

Here is an interesting on map on the demography of the city. 11220 is my zip code.


http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

Can you guess which neighborhoods got the best service during the big blizzard?

[chill_wind]

18. Just a stunning statement of the big picture.

k & R

[RainDog]

19. during the financial crash of 2008, the signs said "jump, fuckers"

if the rich don't buy a clue - and, hey, they have the money for it - the signs will soon read "throw them out the window."

Bill Maher noted this very thing tonight.

NYC has a large enough population to actually do this. I don't want to see this happen, but the greedy fucks are creating the conditions to make it happen.

just ask the French aristocrats what happened from 1792-1794. (but they might find it hard to talk since so many of them lost their heads.)

[Hannah Bell]

21. I'm beginning to think that's why they're moving the poor out of the major cities.

a certain critical mass is needed to organize.

better the rabble live in the hinterlands, dependent on their broken-down cars.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

20. I still can't comprehend how any normal person would want to live there

Some friends of mine finally left Manhattan after finally recognizing it was fucking stupid to live like broke college students on a combined six figure income. Moved to Long Beach on Long Island to a house near the beach. Can't figure out why they didn't do it a decade ago. And they have finally achieved something available to most teenagers... car ownership.