Haves and Have Nots

NYC has the largest income gap in the country, with Manhattan having the largest among the boroughs. From the NYTimes:

The rich grew richer in New York and the poor over all remained poor, according to census figures released today, resulting in the widest income gap of any major metropolitan area in the country.

The top fifth of earners in 2005 made nearly 20 times what the bottom fifth earned in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metropolitan region. In Manhattan, the disparity was a chasm, with the wealthiest making nearly 40 times more than the poorest — $351,333 compared to $8,855, or a bigger gap than in any county in the county. ...

The number of people in poverty has increased since 2000 in every borough except Manhattan. In Brooklyn, the borough with the most poor people, the number increased by 85,000, rising from 475,905 in 2002 to 561,548 in 2006.

“It is clear that low and middle-income New Yorkers are being priced out of Manhattan and that poor people are being driven to the outer boroughs and the suburbs,” said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.

The census data recorded New York City’s poverty rate as 19.2 percent in 2006, virtually unchanged from 19.1 percent in 2005.

Bronx remained the poorest borough in 2006, with a poverty rate of 29.1 percent, followed by Brooklyn (22.6 percent), Manhattan (18.3 percent), Queens (12.2 percent) and Staten Island (9.2 percent).

In 2005, the poverty rates by borough were 29.2 percent in the Bronx, 22.4 percent in Brooklyn, 17.9 percent in Manhattan, 11.9 percent in Queens and 11 percent on Staten Island.

Keep electing Republican wealthy white guys New York. These are the results.