The Great Depression

The Subway Homeless Rate Rises As More Unsheltered Go Underground

We've been hit with two incredibly significant statistics of Gotham income's reality over the past few months. First, the homelessness levels in this city right now are that of the Great Depression. And second, half of New Yorkers live in or near poverty. Now that we're settled into the situation he ... More >>

Nearly Half Of New York City Lives In Or Near Poverty

Who said the recession was over? Coming off the news that New York City's homelessness population is at Great Depression levels, the Bloomberg administration released a report this weekend that nails that whole neo-Gilded-Age income disparity point in just a little bit deeper. In 2011, the populati ... More >>

Photo Essay: It Happened on the NYC Subway

A princess rides the F train Usually, New York City's labyrinthine subway system is just transportation. But sometimes magic happens, and I was lucky enough to have my camera when these odd scenes occurred. In doing so, I was inspired by Walker Evans, who worked for the Farm Security Administratio ... More >>

Homeless Shelter With Sexual Offenders Opens In Greenpoint, Residents Pissed

In October, we heard about a homeless shelter immediately opening in Carroll Gardens, much to the dismay of local residents. Since August, the Department of Health Services personnel had been (and continue to be) overwhelmed with the accelerating rate of the homeless population, unable to find space ... More >>

New York City: The New World Capital Of The Super-Rich

You wouldn't believe this if you read the news the other day that the homeless population in New York City is at its highest rate since the Great Depression. But... According to London's Daily Mail, New York City has surpassed the British capital as the most appetizing spot for the super-rich (oh, ... More >>

The NYC Homeless Population Is At Its Highest Level Since The Great Depression

Remember when Mayor Bloomberg said a few weeks ago, "Nobody's sleeping on the streets"? Well... At that time, the Coalition of the Homeless furiously responded by telling reporters that there was "no accurate measurement of New York City's unsheltered homeless population, and recent City surveys si ... More >>

The MTA: A Grand Metaphor for Human Existence

Sure, you might hate it when your train doesn't show up on time or suddenly goes express and takes you five stops too far. But you have to admit, the MTA is pretty impressive. If only the Senate ran as efficiently and frequently as the subway, it might not have taken three months for Sandy victims t ... More >>

City Council to Mayor's Administration: Stop Blaming Homelessness Epidemic on State Legislature and the Economy

At a committee meeting held yesterday, City Council members told the Department of Homeless Services to start coming up with better solutions, not temporary fixes and excuses, to combat the rapid rise of homelessness in the city."We're in crisis mode, and if we don't do something over the next 16 mo ... More >>

Brother, Can You Spare a Dollar

Why Is Weed Illegal?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently came out in favor of pot policy reform, announcing Monday that he wanted to decriminalize public displays of just less than one ounce of weed. As we reported then, the move was heralded by pretty much everyone, except maybe Republicans in Albany. Just today, the Wall Str ... More >>

Love the Beans, Hate the Beaner

One of the greatest stories I ever worked on involved neo-Nazis and burritos

Stay Away From Bad Luck Musto

I am the perfect talisman to ward off the end of the recession. Every financial decision I make is a dumb, self defeating one that contributes to homelessness and poverty--for myself.

Three Artists Guide the Way for NYC's Aesthetics of Decline

Get ready for the ruins

Free Will Astrology: November 23-29, 2011

LEAPIN' LIZARDS!

If anyone can save the day, it's a red-headed orphan

BOWERY BABY

A Depression-era walking tour

Drayton Curry, 92, Nation's Oldest Federal Prisoner: Obama AWOL On Clemency Request

​Drayton Curry, age 92, the oldest inmate in federal prison, could die there waiting as he has for the past seven months for President Obama to decide on his clemency petition. Wheelchair-bound and in poor health, Curry, who was born when Woodrow Wilson was president, is currently in a feder ... More >>

BOWERY BABY

A Depression-era walking tour

Ernie Kovacs' Kitchen Symphony

In the 1950s, American comedian and television personality Ernie Kovacs invented many of the tropes that still prevail today in TV comedy, including sketch comedy, conceptual comic films, and a tendency to ad-lib nearly everything.

Happy Birthday, Empire State Building

​Dear Empire State Building, Happy 80th! Wow, that's old. You were born (completed, really, is the word) on May 1st, 1931, during the Great Depression. Standing 1,454' 8 9/166" tall, you were the tallest building in the world for forty years! A masterpiece of Art Deco design (although -- let ... More >>

Today in El Diario: Suicides Up When the Economy Tanks

​Broke people tend to kill themselves Suicides go up considerably during recessions, according to El Diario, the Spanish-language daily. The data, from a report published Thursday, also notes that fewer people kill themselves during economic booms. A Centers for Disease control report indic ... More >>

Eat the Rich

The rich are richer than ever, but don't ask them for help

Republicans Win the Census; New York Loses Two Seats in House

​Numbers from the latest U.S. census are out! The U.S. population has reached a heady 308,745,538 people, which, though it seems like a lot, is actually the slowest growth we've had since the Great Depression. Of all the states, Nevada grew the most.

The Rich Cultural History of Louisville (Yes, Louisville) in Music Makes a City

Coming Soon To Brooklyn: Tuberculosis!

​Two workers in Greenpoint have contracted tuberculosis, Brooklyn Paper is reporting, cuing mass panic in northern Brooklyn and a mass exodus to Poland. Well, not quite yet. Still, it's not a comforting thought -- especially in light of the city's ongoing bedbug problem. We're dirty, dirty peo ... More >>

New Ad Calls for Pinky-Ringed Wall Streeters to Do the Right Thing

​For the two or three of you out there who still watch commercials, you're about to start seeing a rather amateurish statewide ad that asks -- nay, demands! -- Wall Street and big businesses (who all smoke cigars, wear multiple gold rings, and take their Pellegrino with lemon, thank you very m ... More >>

Gunning for the Working Families Party

Landlords, lawyers fire at will

Holy Days’ Bitter Harvest

Best of NYC 2009

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

HIGH MARX

A Communist and a fugitive get cozy

WRITE ON

Russell Banks discusses his new novel

All Dolled Up

Recluse Morton Bartlett's plaster boys and girls

Friday 8/11

Gold Digging: A Treasure Trove of Berkeley Classics

1993

First Served in 1931, This Spicy Plateful of Rice Proves it's Still Full of Beans

Trick and Treat

A creepy diptych showcases McCormack's Canadian gothic

A Passion for Provocation

Lars von Trier's Dogville is a Christian allegory—with a bite

Non-Art Museums

Butterflies and Bombers

Our Way to Fall

Are You There, God? It's Me, TV Critic

Getcha Anger Here

Hulking Ideas About the Place Your Mama Ran From

Listings

Listings

Civil Liberties War Among Jews

Only One Jewish Group Versus Ashcroft

Fourth Annual Real-Life Consumer Guide

Redeeming the Democratic Party

Separate and Unequal—the Nations Within

Misguided Multiculturalism

Our Historical Illiteracy

Our Century, Ourselves