No surprises here, but in a new study the Bloomberg administration has found that half the residents of New York City are "poor" or "near-poor," meaning that they were "making less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold." A small increase in the number of poor-- 3 percent since 2009 -- yet again, a telling marker in the city with the billionaire mayor and over 50,000 homeless men, women and children sleeping in shelters each night.
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.
“The recent increase in the state minimum wage affects the working poor and near-poor, and paid sick days are important, but missing rungs in the ladder make it really hard to climb out of poverty,” said Nancy Rankin, vice president for policy research and advocacy at the Community Service Society, which lobbies on behalf of the poor.
New York City's billionaire mayor, btw, opposed both the minimum wage increase and paid sick days.
America’s most iconic city now has the same inequality index as Swaziland, note the editors at The Nation.
