We know�2014 in New York sure felt like a bear. The city’s middle class continued to shrink, yet the super-wealthy got super-wealthier. Brooklyn, of all places, became the country’s least affordable spot to buy a home. The winter was one of the worst on record. Even sports sucked. (The Giants and Jets may post their most combined losses ever.) But things aren’t that bad. Here’s the cold, hard proof.
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Illustration by Jean Jullien
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Because more people are making a living wage:
16,800: Estimated number of
New Yorkers who will qualify for a living wage of at least $11.50 an hour under a new expanded law, to be phased in over the next five years.
1,000: Homeless families have moved into permanent housing since May �And more people
are keeping their homes.
Q2 2013: 4,363
Q2 2014: 3,619
Because: Last year our local economy was $1.4 trillion. Making it bigger than Spain’s.
Because Silicon Alley is on fire �
In the past decade, the number of tech-related jobs has increased 18% from 246000 to 291000. Tech now represents 7% of the NYC workforce.
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Illustration by Jean Jullien
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And not just for Ivy League engineers.
44% of New York tech jobs don’t require a bachelor’s degree.
Average hourly pay for non-degree-holding tech jobs: $27.75 per hour
Average hourly pay for non-degree-holding jobs citywide: $19 per hour
We’re getting greener: 19% Reduction in carbon emissions since 2007.
930,600 New trees planted since 2007 as part of the MillionTreesNYC program.
59 New acres of city parkland added last year, because three-quarters of New Yorkers now live within a quarter-mile of a park.
We have more performance spaces than anyplace else in the world:
420 theaters show 43,000 annual performances.
6,292 dance performances
22,204 music performances
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Illustration by Jean Jullien
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277 live-music venues
15 major concert halls
Because our low-income housing is finally getting the improvements it needs. Open work orders at the New York City Housing Authority:
January 2013 .......... 423,000
October 2014 ............86,000
Average days to complete a maintenance request:
January 2013 ...................150
October 2014 ....................24
Because the city is even safer in 2014 than it was in 2013*�
Felonies ........................-4.4%
Homicides ...................-6.8%
Robberies .................... -14.4%
Rapes ...........................-2.9%
*when low crime rates were already at historic lows
Without using
stop-and-frisk policing�
Reported stop-and-frisks:
2011 ......................... 686,000
2014 ...........Fewer than 50,000
Even in East New York and Brownsville.
Change in stop-and-frisks in the first half of 2014: -99%.
Despite the protests, complaints against the police are down 26% between July and November, the largest five-month decline since 1993.
City Harvest collected 46 million pounds of food this year for the city’s hungry, its most ever.
Because we live longer
Life Expectancy
Women in New York: 83
Men in New York: 78
Average American Woman: 81
Average American Man: 76
Because we shared our major cultural institutions with...
25,671,326 visitors this year.
That's 476,512 more than last year.
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Illustration by Jean Jullien
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Because There are 974 places to get a coffee that aren’t Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts.
57% of NYC coffee shops remain independent.
Because we’re adding private-sector jobs at the fastest rate since the financial crisis (beating the national growth rate).