Intro To Journalism
There is no better example of the disparity between the rich and poor than in New York City, with the homeless and hungry sleeping right on the sidewalks below the buildings housing some of the worlds richest people. And while most New Yorkers can not even process what a million or so dollars even looks like, the rest are just trying to put dinner on the table.
As it shows on paper compared at a national level, New Yorkers are actually improving since the start of the recession. Unemployment rates in the state are at 8.0%, only one percent lower than the national average. In New York City however, it is still up at 8.6%. While this is good for the city as a whole, the gap between the poor and rich still exists, and when looking at general income levels, it is clear that although there are more people on the lower half of the spectrum of wealth, they are increasingly paid less attention. While the median income level in New York City, that being the most normal of them all, smack dab in the middle, is $48,631, it seems to be a more accurate number than the actual average, which is $75,809.
The 18.7% of New Yorkers living below the poverty line falls slightly below the $30,000 mark, with the entire spectrum of wealth crushing them from overhead. The people at the top of the wealth spectrum, hold amounts of money unimaginable to the average worker. According to Forbes and the NYC Coalition Against Hunger, 57 New York City billionaires have as much money as 13 million minimum wage workers. Now, it is curious to think of how all of the money that funds a billionaires lavish, albeit unnecessary lifestyle, could be put to much better use in aiding the one million New Yorkers who will need to access emergency food stamps this year. Because while it may not be a steaming plate of fillet mignon, everyone still needs to eat.
Whether it is working three jobs to support their families or not being able to qualify for food stamps, there are still major problems that need to be addressed to help these people. While the statistics have gotten better for New York City, the real problem lies in the fact that nothing else has really changed. The poor are still poor, the rich are still too rich, and Cuomo’s state budget of $30 million to aid hunger programs is exactly the same as it was last year. Triada Stampas, Director of Government Relations and Food Bank NYC says, "Quite too often, people make it about politics, taking partisan business into consideration. But these are lives and livelihoods at stake. And the best way to meet these goals is to ensure quality from all angles--government, organizations, citizen involvement. By working together through all these approaches, we have no choice but to help the food banks and poverty programs to prosper."
There has been a lot of citizen involvement in New York City to raise money for the hungry. But in reality, a bake sale shouldn’t be needed to raise money for the food banks. It is something that the government should be on top of, seeing as how this is in reference to a bake sale held in Grand Central that raised $50,000. The sale was held by Sara Lee, a Food Network personality, but more importantly, Andrew Cuomo’s girlfriend.
This strange breakdown of wealth does not only exist in New York, but in other major cities across the country as well. In Houston, Texas for example, the cities unemployment rate is higher than the states as a hole, with 8.8% in Houston and 8.3% in the rest of state. Also, incomes below the poverty level in Houston are at 20.6% versus only 17.2% in the whole state. Of course these disparities have a lot to do with the breakdown of age, gender, family size, and race. However, a city like Los Angeles, with an extremely low city unemployment rate of 11.5%, is doing great with the wealth gaps, with their median income at $48,617. While all of the states have high hopes for the end of the recession, there still isn’t a clear solution. Steve Murdock of Rice University and a former state demographer for Texas said, "It is very clear how extensive the economic difficulties are. Health insurance. Job hours worked. Poverty rates. Income. Those are all in the wrong direction in terms of what we'd like to see for America.”
So while statistics are showing extremely small but fortunately steady rises in unemployment rates and people below the poverty line, clearly when looking at the fact that those numbers are all actual hungry people, a fraction of a percent starts to look very small indeed. Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitatlity Group, a donor to food banks puts it, “There are still families, hard-working families, I meet in this city who have no idea what fullness is. That’s something that has always come off as crazy to me. As fortunate as I am personally, I have this intense gut feeling that there is still so much that has to be done here... “ and there is.
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