Democrats avoid talking about poverty. Republicans back policies premised on outdated ideas about the poor. And the media doesn’t take either side to task.
As City Limits celebrates four decades of reporting, past leaders recount the sites that were central to the city they lived in and reported on.
The plastic bag industry and their supporters have increasingly used poor people as their last line of defense. When the poor aren’t being blamed for all of our society’s problem – such as budget deficits, crime, litter – they are being used as the poster child to block needed reforms.
New York charted a new path to energy efficiency, using “on-bill financing” so low-income homeowners could get retrofits they couldn’t afford up front. But utility companies, lenders and ratings companies all made demands and decisions that made the approach a poor fit for households of limited means.
The fight over the Kingsbridge Armory, above, ended in a great victory for the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. But it also forced a rethink over strategy, and a move toward controlling economic development rather than reacting to it.
The projects supported by a new philanthropic fund composed of major foundations and big financial players don’t look shiny, new or glamorously innovative. They do, however, appear to work.
Some say public schools have failed the poor. Others believe poverty is an obstacle that education alone can’t tackle. A new research center seeks to shape NYC’s education policy to recognize the way poverty affects young brains.
And that’s distressing, given the increasingly robust economy—and the likelihood that the Fed will soon tap the brakes.
An advocate who has fought for fair housing catalogues the many subtle ways property owners and public policies lock out renters along lines of income, race, ethnicity, disability and more.
In the past decade and a half, the number of Americans living in high-poverty neighborhoods has doubled thanks to suburban sprawl and exclusionary zoning practices.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
