(Photo: Joerg Reichardt)

Economic disparity has been climbing for the better part of a century. But since 2007, the divide has been starker than ever, with the richest .01 percent taking home 6 percent of the nation’s income, a figure that has practically doubled in the past decade, and the top 10 percent now controlling two thirds of Americans’ net worth. According to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, New York City is home to one of the wealthiest—and the most impoverished—congressional districts in the country. Although NY 14, mostly Manhattan’s East Side, and NY 16, in the Bronx, are geographic neighbors, the two districts, in many other ways, couldn’t be farther apart. On the pages that follow, we sought to capture a picture of the state of income inequality today, as seen through perhaps its most glaring juxtaposition.

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Crime statistics and 311 data are from reports by police precincts and community boards. Other statistics compiled from a combination of U.S. Census Bureau data, American Human Development Project reports, press releases from the Bloomberg offices, and in-house calculations.

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