An Extraordinary Concentration of Wealth

From Daniel P. Tucker at WNYC:

A new report from the CUNY Graduate Center shows the extent to which the rich are getting richer in New York City, while the poor struggle to gain a foothold.

In 1990, the top one percent of households in New York made $452,000 a year. By the time of the 2010 census, they were making $717,000 a year. During that same period, earnings for the poorest New York families remained nearly flat.

“What we’re seeing here is this process of polarization where those at the top can certainly afford to live in this city because of their continually increasing incomes. Those at the bottom often have no choices,” said Laird Bergad, director of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at CUNY, and author of the report.

The study, based on numbers from between 1990 and 2010, is here (PDF), and as the executive summary states, “the data indicate an extraordinary, and growing, concentration of wealth in the City.” Not that this is at all surprising, but the numbers are jarring nonetheless.

Photo: mSeattle

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