Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘In the City, Inequality Rules’
I am shocked by the cold-hearted assertion of Edward Glaeser that the unprecedented level of inequity in New York is not only an inevitability of our prosperity, but also something to somehow be proud of [Oped, “In the City, Inequality Rules,” March 2, 2007]. The fact that a city has a wide and growing income disparity does not indicate that it’s a dynamic place brimming with economic health — consider Cairo or Lagos.
I am not proud that I live in a city with 45 billionaires, when one out of every five New Yorkers lives below the federal poverty line, which is an annual income of $15,735 for one adult with two dependents.
I am not proud of the fact that the number of working poor in our city is increasing — in 2005 nearly half of New York families below the poverty line included a full-time worker, up from 24% in 2000.
What I would be proud of is if we were able to use our city’s prosperity to ensure that everyone’s basic needs are met.
MATT NERZIG
Spokesman
Local 32BJ SEIU
New York, N.Y.
Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, by facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, New York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.
