From the NY Observer:New York City’s middle class, long an endangered species, may be facing extinction if certain key economic factors don’t soon change, this according to a comprehensive report released today by the Center for an Urban Future, a think tank.
The 53-page report, titled Reviving the City of Aspiration, lays bare the struggles of the middle class in New York: skyrocketing costs; stagnating wages; underfunded public education; and perhaps most frustrating, a disinterested city government. And they’re not taking it sitting down: the plight of the middle class is becoming the flight of the middle class – with the city’s vital center fleeing for more hospitable places like Charlotte, where 1,893 New Yorkers fled to in 2006, and Philadelphia, where 3,635 emigrated in 2006.
Well you know who will be left: tower people and the tweeded. So much for vibrant and diverse!
20 comments:
Give me a break; look at the Census data. NYC is growing and getting richer, and Philly is shrinking and getting poorer.
The Center for an Urban Future is a right-wing rag that (like Queens Crapper) hates things like immigration, density, redevelopment, public transit, etc. so it always complains about NYC and wants it to change to Hooterville, Nebraska.
Everyone knows who's moving to Philly; it's no coincidence that Brooklyn is the #1 borough. The newcomers to Philly are mostly poor African Americans from the ghettos of Brownsville and East NY who are being priced out of NYC. I personally know some of these people who have moved.
They are enticed by Section 8 program shysters and other types who lure them to Philly.
I guess you don't feel that skyrocketing costs; stagnating wages; underfunded public education; and perhaps most frustrating, a disinterested city government are issues faced by middle class New Yorkers. Must be one of those LIC tower people. I am glad this blog keeps you up at nights.
"The Center for an Urban Future is a right-wing rag that (like Queens Crapper) hates things like immigration, density, redevelopment, public transit, etc."
Did you even bother to read the report? It says that things like public transportation and affordable housing need to be INCREASED and laments the fact that the poorer immigrants are leaving the city because there is no upward mobility like there was for previous generations.
From the Daily News:
* New Yorkers paid about $34 a month for phone service in 2006. In San Francisco, similar service cost $17 a month.
* Home heating costs have jumped 125% in the past five years and are up 243% since 1998.
* Full-time day care costs can run up to $25,000 a year for one child, depending on the neighborhood, or about as much as some college tuitions.
* Meanwhile, wages in the city have remained mostly flat in all boroughs but Manhattan — even during the boom years from 2003 to 2007.
Queens Crapper thank you for this posting. Excellent.
This is my impression of what is happening - we are not wanted and there will be a huge price to pay for this policy down the road.
Without the middle class there will be no one below economically whom will pay taxes and the rich won't or don't pay taxes and they too will flee because once the middle class is gone - there is no one paying taxes remaining. If the Mgrs. who are critical in running buisnesses of the rich to buffer them from the poor workers - without the educated middle class - there is no reason to remain in NYC.
In fact if pay and opportunities decline rapidly - which they currently are in NYC, then the middle class will surely go elsewhere in Southern warm weather states with much lower housing and living costs and live/work there.
Ultimately as things deteroiate even more, the poor will riot, turn to crime and entire new areas of Queens will become the new Bed Sty and Crown Heights of the 70's as the middle class flees the state instead of moving to suburban Li, NJ or Staten Island as they once did. History repeats itself - a lesson not fully appreciated by small minded POLS.
Oh please, this is a totally politicized, one-sided report. Of course Crapper would post it.
Oh please, this is a totally politicized, one-sided report. Of course Crapper would post it.
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Yes, you should confine yourself to recieved wisdom: stick to the mayor and the Municipal Art Society when it comes to commenting on the urban condition.
Another confirmation that during the years Republicans ran the show, Bush, Pataki, Rudy, Bloomy, the rich got richer and the rest of us suffered.
No, if you read the report, this all happened under Bloomberg. And he is no Republican no matter how hard he lobbies to get back into the party's good graces.
Let's get a perspective on this:
Step #1.
The Bloomberg administration
squeezes out the middle class because THEY are the MOST VOCIFEROUS critics!
Step #2.
That leaves the wealthy and the poor.
Step #3.
The poor are EASILY REMOVED
once the middle class is gone
because they're working so hard to make ends meet that they've got no time to go to protest rallies and the like.
Step #4.
New York City becomes
a haven for the super rich.
CAUTION:
Where do the rich folks get the help they need to wipe their asses and such...being incapable of doing much for themselves?
H-m-m-m...
maybe one of the "outer" boroughs
becomes New City New York's "company town" dotted with servants quarters.
Annon #1.
Friends of Bloomberg ilk are getting richer....not NYC per say.
The middle class' income is being systematically whittled away.
You really ought to put down
your hash pipe and look out the window.
Anonymous said...
"In fact if pay and opportunities decline rapidly - which they currently are in NYC, then the middle class will surely go elsewhere in Southern warm weather states with much lower housing and living costs and live/work there."
CJ says...
They already have and will continue to do so. And those states will be the first to recover from this economic downturn while NY and in particular NYC will continue to languish.
"Another confirmation that during the years Republicans ran the show, Bush, Pataki, Rudy, Bloomy, the rich got richer and the rest of us suffered."
CJ says...
First, Bloomberg, who is totally self absorbed and accustomed to getting his own way, is a Republican in name only and will identify himself with any party that will get him elected.
Second, you like to have it both ways. New York City, has been controlled by Democrats for most of it's American history. With the exception of several reform mayors such as La Guardia, Wagner, and Low, Tammany Hall called the shots even into the early 1960's (read Carmine DeSapio).
Most of the power base in NY State is and has always been concentrated in New York City. In fact it was inadvertently responsible for Theodore Roosevelt’s rise the Vice President and subsequently President of the United States. The corruption is as bad as it has ever been. It is not better because Democrats are in charge, your partisanship makes you believe it to be so.
IMPEACH BLOOMBERG NOW AND HAUL HIS SMELLY ASS INTO COURT FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE WORKING CLASS.
There, a new crime, long overdue for the books! But our NYC puppet judges would never go for that one!
No working people need apply in New York or in the rest of America. The travesty of the Bush years proves this. What a joke when bankrupt companies take money extorted from American taxpayers and pay billions in bonuses.
You bring the tar, I'll bring the features, you neighbor can pick up a rail on his way back from the unemployment line.
It is an unfortunate fact that in the future, Manhattan will have become a playground for the rich, while the outer boroughs will have become slums for their working-class servants. The report said that of the 10 jobs that will hire the most workers in the near future, ONLY TWO of these jobs will provide annual incomes of more than $28,000. The main reason why New York City became a city of crime and poverty in the 1970s was because THE TAX BASE ERODED. The tax base is generally composed of EDUCATED MIDDLE CLASS WORKERS. Should the middle class desert the city, as they did in the 1970s, then we will inevitably revert straight back to the problems of those times. New York City is notorious for how it fell so grandly. If it were to fall like that again, only 20 years or so after recovering, then our status would be shaken for good. People would automatically lose faith in NYC, as they had once before, only now the path of recovery would be much more difficult. THE MAIN CAUSE FOR THIS IS THE IGNORANCE AND CARELESSNESS OF MOST OF OUR POLITICIANS. The politicians who got us into this mess back in 1975 were as stupid as the modern-day tweeders. The worst thing is that they don't care NOW. But when they will need the middle class to rescue their sorry asses, they will be on their knees, begging us to come back. And yet, once we come back and bring the city back into a good state, then the politicians will again revert back to the same way of treating us like shit. It is a vicious cycle. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.
...And to continue what I was saying, the modern-day plight of New York City is evidence of the failure of capitalism and democracy in America and around the world. Communism and dictatorship are equally bad things as well, though. What we need is the intermediate between the two, SOCIALISM. Socialism puts the greatest focus on the middle class, and treats the middle class just in the way that we should be treated. I say 'we' when referring to the middle class because I myself am middle class, and so the report by this think tank greatly worries me. And I can tell you, it is not easy, living in this city. Socialism focuses on important areas, such as helping the poor, funding public schools and infrastructure, etc. Socialism is SOCIAL. What we want is something social. And I am not calling for dictatorship, but democracy just doesn't work in a city, state, and country where there are many stupid people. There are many good, smart people in America, but at the same time, there are many, many stupid people. Democracy and stupidity don't go together. We need smart people elected by smart people, and not stupid people elected by stupid people.
Anonymous said:
"the modern-day plight of New York City is evidence of the failure of capitalism and democracy in America and around the world. Communism and dictatorship are equally bad things as well, though. What we need is the intermediate between the two, SOCIALISM. Socialism puts the greatest focus on the middle class, and treats the middle class just in the way that we should be treated."
Capitalism in a democratic society is the ideal. In such a society, we have free citizens deciding what is best for themselves. The natural tension this produces, forces the self-interested to consider the desires of others.
Someone produces, someone else purchases. That deal will never work unless both seller and buyer have common interests.
A supermarket that offers outdated dairy, meat or produce quickly corrects itself or disappears. Prices offered and accepted invariably find equilibrium. Competition pushes all to improve.
Socialism has no such benefits.
Choice is central to capitalism. The state NEVER wants the complications of choice (competition).
The flaw in today's "capitalism" here in the US is size. Any business that grows so large and wealthy that now permit it to act like a mini-state, avoiding competition (choice) is actually no longer capitalist.
When any business is large and wealthy enough to purchase its own laws, regulations and enforcement actions (from the state) is a deadly danger.
The cure lies in democracy. We must always be vigilant as to who is asking to be elected. What character and integrity do they possess? Where does their loyalty lie? Do they truly comprehend (do we truly comprehend) that all levels and branches of government MUST be LIMITED to the constitution and the laws and more than anything else, MORALITY?
All government officials MUST fully comprehend that the citizens are sovereign. It's a humbling posture for ambitious people, but, absent that understanding, their ambitions, plus the cravings for wealth and power of some, will kill the democracy and leave - you guessed it: Totalitarian Socialism.
Socialism, Communism, Fascism, Statism are all just different words to describe control by the state. What was the name of the Nazi party? Stalin was a socialist.
It really is up to each of us every moment, whether the likes of Commissar Death and Taxes reigns or we the people rule.
The Mayor has some blame for the situation the city is in BUT let us not forget who voted him in twice and most likely will a third time. Also, look at our city council most are unable, incapable and just plain to greedy to care about any one but themselves yet every election we vote the same machine backed candidates into office. In my district we voted the leader of the machines niece into office with no experience and no qualifications at all to be our councilperson. If you elect these types of politicians to represent you then this is exactly what you will get.
"Sarah" you're right.
Without foolish voters who continue to swallow clubhouse drivel,
we'd be in far better shape.
Never forget the first line of the official political manifesto:
JOB #1. IS TO GET YOURSELF ELECTED
AND RE-ELECTED OWING ONLY LEFTOVERS (AND BROKEN PROMISES) TO EACH CONSTITUENT ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS!
Think of a pol's newsletter
and holiday ads run in weekly news-rags as their JUNK MAIL ADVERTISING!
Learn how to
read between the lines.
HOLD THEIR FEET TO THE FIRE and
don't be afraid to criticize
and hold accountable any lazy or devious pol!
They're your servants.
You're not theirs so don't be blackmailed by their pseudo power over you!
THE POWER IS YOURS...
SO USE IT OR LOSE IT!
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