NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus has cut an unequal path of grief through New York City, hitting hardest in a ring of predominantly poorer, nonwhite neighborhoods a long subway and bus ride from Manhattan, according to data released by the city Monday.
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The new accounting of fatalities by neighborhood revealed that the ZIP code with more deaths per capita than any other place in New York is the one that contains Starrett City, a huge complex of apartment towers in Brooklyn that is the largest federally subsidized housing development in the country.
Of the area’s roughly 12,400 residents, 76 have been killed by the virus. Nearly 63% of the people living in the ZIP code are black. It is also the ZIP code with the largest percentage of older people in the city, likely a contributing factor in the high fatality rate.
Other areas of the city with unusually high death rates shared some characteristics with the complex, which is in a far-flung part of Brooklyn not far from Kennedy Airport.
Brooklyn’s Coney Island and the Far Rockaway section of Queens both had high fatality rates, as did the northeastern-most parts of the Bronx, including Co-Op City, another huge apartment development upon which Starrett City was modeled.
The data released Monday reinforced earlier revelations that black and Hispanic New Yorkers were both more than twice as likely to be killed by the virus as white people.
And it also showed a direct link between death and poverty.
Neighborhoods with very high poverty levels suffered an average of 232 deaths per 100,000 residents while areas with low poverty rates experienced 100 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Jonathan Westin, executive director of New York Communities for Change, a group that advocates for low-income communities, called the disparities devastating. He said Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, could have lessened the impact of the pandemic on the poor.
“It’s a crisis that they haven’t canceled rent for the millions of people who have no jobs or are forced to go to work because they can’t pay their rent and are living in overcrowded situations already and then bring the coronavirus home because they have to work, they have to make rent, they have to live,” Westin said.
COVID-19 has killed at least 16,000 New York City residents, plus another 4,800 whose deaths weren’t immediately confirmed by a lab test.
Typical liberal, biased article, which attempts to make “Whitey” feel guilty that the fatality rate in that group, is lower than other ethnic groups. Has everyone noticed that there is not one sentence in this article which mentions the high fatality rate in Boro Park, Crown Heights, and Williamsburg? I guess that they don’t count.
It came to NYC in the lungs of wealthy people who could afford to travel by airplane from asia and europe. They gave it to their poor house-keepers and dog-walkers.
its not a money issue , nor a color issue the 3 key factors to look at is culture, comfort level of risk, density& age; let me explain
an area like brighton sheepsead bay has an enormous senior population – so obviously their rates will be high
a place like starret city with a zillion apartments w/ many common areas will be high
people of color & immigrants have been through alot in their life , way less wimpy than americans so they are not intimidated by disease…
talk about risk- i watched a clip of lag baomer parade 1987 a 40 foot flatbed truck with 20 fathers & 3 yr olds driving past the rebbe – i noticed no rails on any side of the truck then this was normal today you wouldnt dream of having a truck roll with out gates
My experience with minorities is that they are less interested in vitamins and preventive medicine than whites. During the morning commute, it’s not unusual to see people eating unhealthy snacks and soda for breakfast.
Oh please this is nonsense and fake news . Full of lies
Us frum jews got hit the worse and we are not predominantly people of color or poor. 75% of us had it . Such fat liars
Now next lie ,
“It’s a crisis that they haven’t canceled rent for the millions of people who have no jobs”
1) they did cancel rent
2) more important , you earn more morning with no job . You make $600+ unemployment. And no day care or travel expenses . You have more money than ever. Why are you yelling poverty ? Fat liars
why mention a community that ignored directives and got disproportionately sick? You reap what you sow