Browse All Topics
For Some, Occupy Movement is a Test of Faith
Many in the Occupy Wall Street movement frame their advocacy in religious terms. For one Brooklyn clergyman, that means tension with some churches, and challenges for his own congregation.
Is Brooklyn Recycling?
A look at recycling rates by community district reveals a broad reduction in how much of Brooklyn's waste stream gets recycled—and big differences among neighborhoods.
Flatbush Designs a Fight Against Poverty
A federal Promise Neighborhoods grant in hand, one Brooklyn organization is asking residents how best to address the causes and consequences of poverty in their neighborhood.
Food Trucks Give Restaurateurs Indigestion
The proliferation of falafel carts and other sidewalk food stands in Bay Ridge might make for tasty lunch options. But people who own brick-and-mortar restaurants say the mobile eateries represent unfair competition.
Driving? Fuhgeddabout it! Brooklyn Stats Say Transit Rules
A new report paints the most detailed statistical picture ever of Brooklyn and its 18 community districts, and suggests residents today are less poor, better educated, paying more for housing and more likely to ride mass transit than in 2000.
Downtown Remains Contested Territory
The major rezoning of Brooklyn in 2004, coupled with the recent economic slowdown, has produced mixed results for residents and businesses.
Bike Plan Aims to Get Bronx Armory on Track
In 2009 a controversy over wages scuttled a plan to build a mall in the long-empty Kingsbridge Armory. Now there's a plan to host bike races there. Is a renovation project finally getting in gear?
Displaced Shopkeepers: Rents Still a Problem
Yaakov "Jack" Fuzailov, a barber, has twice been displaced since the 2004 rezoning—once for development of a building that was never built, and a second time by a landlord seeking higher rent that, apparently, he never obtained.
Washington Heights Sees White-Collar Boom
Lured by low rents, corporations are seeking space in Northern Manhattan. The trend has complex implications for existing small businesses and nearby residents who are unemployed.
The Mystery of Bed-Stuy's Missing Jobs
Despite growing gentrification, Central Brooklyn is the New York neighborhood hardest-hit by the economic downturn.
Earning Farm Subsidies … on the Upper East Side?
As a national debate over farm subsidies heats up, a look at the top New York City beneficiaries reveals the nuances of a controversial program.
Workfare for Food Stamps?
Poor New Yorkers and advocates say the Bloomberg administration is, for the first time, forcing people receiving food stamps to fulfill work requirements.
At Zuccotti Park, a People's Library
The library holds over 1,200 books from an array of genres, including politics, poetry, religion, gender studies, foreign language, and science fiction.
Occupy Wall Street Struggles with … Accounting?
Improving the accounting will help increase transparency and accountability for donors, an issue that several potential donors have complained about on the movement's blog.
The Revolutionary Kitchen Feeds Downtown Protests
Despite an all-volunteer, non-hierarchical structure, a seemingly messy but strangely efficient infrastructure has developed. Nowhere is the system more evident than the bustling kitchen in the center of the park.
Occupy Wall Street's Medical Center Preps for Cold Weather
There have already been at least seven cases of hypothermia. The article of clothing now deemed most valuable are socks, since trench foot and athlete's foot are big problems.
Protesters Get Media Coverage, But Distrust It
Some protesters bore visible signs of their animosity toward major cable TV outlets. One 19-year-old activist who wore a Guy Fawkes mask and called himself "Blood Bandit" said, "Have you seen Fox News around here? Guess what, we chased them away."
Recruiting Occupy Wall Street Protesters to Oppose Fracking
Organizers opposed to the natural gas extraction method known as hydrofracking felt Occupy Wall Street was a good venue to meet like-minded people who would be willing to support the cause, due to their shared anti-corporate sentiment.
Women's Group Eyes Safety, Visibility Concerns at Protest
Practical worries like finding safe places to sleep and denouncing harassment are a priority. The group also hopes to better represent women in the working groups of Occupy Wall Street.
Appearances in Zuccotti Park May Be Deceiving
There are people dressed in sweatpants and combat boots, others in orange construction jerseys and even a few wearing business suits. But in Zuccotti Park clothes do not always mark the person.
The Economy
Investigative Reporting on New York City's workforce and economy, business initatives, social safety net and poverty.
Follow @cl_economy
Quick Links:
Jobs | Events | Programs
Follow This Topic:
BLOG ENTRIES
Living Wage as Soviet Plot: Da or Nyet? - Jarrett Murphy
We asked Soviet experts what they thought of the comparisons Mayor Bloomberg has been making between communist wage policy and a local living wage proposal.
Food Stamp Shortfall Linked to Homelessness - Jarrett Murphy
More people in New York are getting food stamps, but because the benefits don't cover a realistic family grocery bill, recipients are still choosing between dinner and rent, a report finds.
What’s Not to Like About the Cuomo Budget? - Jarrett Murphy
Amid a sea of praise for Gov. Cuomo's second budget, advocates for low-income New Yorkers raised complaints. That, plus the latest on NYCHA, city job creation and the sick leave bill —all in our policy roundup.
NYC Area Gets a D for Economic Security - Jarrett Murphy
According to a new report on economic security, the New York region's high housing costs and serious mortgage delinquency rate place it 74th among America's 100 biggest metropolitan areas.
Poverty Rose Slower than Thought—Is that Good News? - Neil deMause
Much-anticipated alternative statistics on poverty are out. The good news: The rate is rising more slowly than earlier numbers suggested. The bad news: It's been higher than we thought for a long time.
March to Bring Communities of Color to Occupy Wall Street - Jarrett Murphy
Critics of Occupy Wall Street fault its lack of racial diversity on one hand, and the diversity of its political messages on the other. A march planned for Monday will challenge the first critique. A visit to Zuccotti questions the second.
More Poor People=More Crime? Not Necessarily, Says Report - Jarrett Murphy
A study of the effect of housing vouchers on public safety finds no evidence that the arrival of subsidy recipients leads to increases in crime. Rather, voucher holders tend to move to areas where crime is already high.
15 Years On, Still No Agreement on Welfare Reform's Impact - Neil deMause
The panel was charged with answering the question, "Welfare Reform at 15: Is It Working?"Their answer depended almost entirely on how each member defined "working."
City Hall Reacts to Jump in Poverty Numbers - Jarrett Murphy
After the Census Bureau reported a sharp rise in New York City's poverty rate, the Bloomberg administration put a positive spin on New York's performance relative to the rest of the country.
The Cheerios Index: Do the Poor Pay More for Food? - Kiera Feldman
Poverty is on the rise. What does that mean at the supermarket?
'Recovery' Year Saw Incomes Fall, Poverty Rise - Jarrett Murphy
The hangover from the recession that ended in 2009 was the worst in recent memory, with median household income falling and the poverty rate rising more in 2010 than in any post-recession year since 1970.
NY Pols Tout Bill Targeting Jobless Youth - Kiera Feldman
The Urban Jobs Act would provide $20 million for services to unemployed young people. Amid partisan rancor, will the idea survive Congress? Against record youth unemployment, will it make a difference if it does?
The Lower Unemployment Rate: Getting Jobs, Or Giving Up? - Neil deMause
A closer look at the national labor-market figures released last week suggest that the modest fall in the unemployment rate has more to do with people leaving the labor force than folks finding jobs.
NYC Groups Ask Feds To Scold Bank - Gena Mangiaratti
A coalition of economic advocacy groups wants a federal bank regulator to give JP Morgan Chase a poor grade for its compliance with an anti-redlining law.
Coney Baloney: DiNapoli's Report Obscures Brooklyn Beachfront's Rollercoaster Economy - Neil deMause
Job growth is soaring in Coney Island, says a new report. That was news to anyone who's actually been to Coney Island lately.
Recession's Pain Revealed For Hispanics, Artists - Jarrett Murphy
As new research shows alarming decreases in minority household wealth, City Limits' Arturo Conde discusses his reporting on how opera singers, poets and other creative workers have weathered the Great Recession.
Remember Poverty? Anyone? Anyone? - Neil deMause
Watch a video interview with Neil deMause, author of our July issue looking at the complex stories behind alarming statistics on poverty in New York City and the United States.
Who's Afraid Of Talking About Poverty? - City Limits
The rate of poverty is on the rise, but so is a willingness to at least talk about new ideas for addressing. Representatives of the Bloomberg and Obama administrations will give their takes at an upcoming public panel.
Immigrants' U.S. Paychecks A Lifeline To Home Countries - Vincent Trivett
Immigrant workers who send money to support their families contribute mightily to their home countries' economies. But high fees and other obstacles erode the impact this cash could have.
City Limits Wins Deadline Award - City Limits
Our May 2010 investigation of the causes and consequences of record-high black male joblessness was honored by the New York City Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
CONVERSATIONS/OPINONS
Half of Recovery Jobs Offer Low Wages. So Raise Them!
'It hurts the young. It helps too little. It boosts unemployment.' There are plenty of myths about the minimum wage. The reality is, more and more workers are working at a pay rate that puts them in poverty.
Brooklyn's Got Change. Now It Needs Progress.
Detailed data confirm that today's Brooklyn is different. An inclusive civic infrastructure is what's needed to turn mere change into real progress.
New U.S. Reality: A Permanent Class of Underemployed?
Optimistic statistics on job growth haven't erased growing worries that a large segment of the American population is going to be cut off from steady employment.
Why it's Time to Hire the Disabled
The economy is sluggish and the job market is weak. But that's all the more reason, this writer says, to make sure disabled workers get their shot at the work that's out there.
More Than Money: Bloomberg's Focus on Young Men of Color
Critics on the left say the mayor's Young Men's Initiative misses the mark, and those on the right say it reflects old thinking. But a former City Hall adviser writes that there's more to the idea than the skeptics realize.
MULTIMEDIA
Letter from HCZ founder on behalf of Raj Rajaratnam
Letter from Geoffrey Canada to the federal judge overseeing the sentencing of the former Harlem Children's Zone board member convicted insider trading.
FDNY report on fatal fire, August 18, 2007
The fatal fire investigation report on the deaths of Firefighter Robert Beddia and Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino of Ladder 5 of Engine 24 at 130 Liberty Street, Manhattan.
