Community Corner
Despite Gentrification of Bed-Stuy, Poverty Still on the Rise
New shops and restaurants are opening every day, but many Bed-Stuy residents still live in poverty.
Despite an influx of wealthy young residents, as well as hip shops and restaurants, neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy are still seeing an increase in poverty, says the New York Daily News.
Bed-Stuy, along with East Harlem, took the top of the list on the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York’s new ranking of the city’s poorest communities, says the Daily News.
“Pockets of extreme poverty persist in the city, even in neighborhoods that are often thought to be improving economically,” CCC executive director Jennifer March-Joly told the paper.
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In Bed-Stuy, the article mentions that the white population jumped 600 percent since 2000, while the number of kids living in poverty increased from 39.6 percent in 2008 to 47 percent. The piece also adds that despite new condos going up, the median income in Bed-Stuy is still low, with families with children under 18 only earning about $28,000 in 2010 (the citywide average is about $61,000).
A study in November 2011 showed that extreme poverty – – was on the rise, and almost 10 percent of the population were hungry or homeless.
