a tale of two cities...,

zerohedge | New York City has a well-deserved reputation as the country’s financial and cultural center — and that’s great.

What is not so great is that, for a growing number of its residents, simply surviving in New York has become an increasingly difficult proposition.

As shown by a report issued last year by the city controller, the so-called “Capital of the World” is also the capital of income distribution inequality in the nation.

...

Even though the research precedes superstorm Sandy, this year’s NYC Hunger Experience report (below) reveals a tale of two cities, wherein the struggles of low-income and unemployed New Yorkers to keep food on the table have intensified even as the circumstances continue to improve for those who are better off.

“Now, we have the additional hardships brought about by Sandy,” Stampas said.

Many of the report’s findings are truly worrisome. For instance, between 2011 and 2012, the percentage of households with annual income below $25,000 that had trouble affording food increased a whopping 30%, though the total number of city residents who reported difficulty affording food in the same time period actually decreased by 9%.

No less serious is that, according to the Food Bank, “low income families are making the difficult decision to reduce the nutritional quality of their meals by purchasing less expensive and unhealthy foods in order to afford the mandatory expenses that would keep a roof over their heads.”

Not surprisingly, low-income residents — especially Latinos and African-Americans, women and the unemployed — are more likely to experience difficulty affording the basics than other groups.

The picture painted by the report is nothing short of alarming:

• The percentage of unemployed New Yorkers reporting difficulty soared from 41% in 2011 to 54% in 2012. To make matters worse, the city’s unemployment rate continues to trump the national average.
• As of last November, the city’s unemployment rate was 8.8% (approximately 351,000 people), compared to 7.8% (approximately 12.2 million people) in the country as a whole.
• In fact, the report adds, three years after economists declared the end of the Great Recession in 2009, unemployment rates in the city have yet to recede to pre-recession levels. Participation in government food assistance programs continues to rise, and demand for emergency food programs continues to intensify.

Again, not a pretty picture.