In a study that surprises almost no one, the Bloomberg administration has found that half of New York City residents are "poor" or "near-poor" meaning that they were "making less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold." This is a small rise in the amount of poor from 2009, when the recession officially ended. But as New York City has made abundantly clear, the recovery has not been shared by all (or even many).

The city, in its analysis, recommended against cutbacks to vital public assistance programs, like tax credits and food stamps. These programs are having their budgets cut at the federal and state level, as Washington, and Mayor Bloomberg himself endorses austerity measures in the face of a still-sluggish economy.

"Coinciding with the end of the slump in the job market is the end of the recession-related expansion of the safety net," the report states.

Manhattan has become richer while boroughs where development money and attention hasn't been given, like Queens, are now poorer. The Bronx has remained just as poor as it has always been.

While recent measures in New York City like raising the minimum wage and granting workers paid sick days have helped poor New Yorkers (both measures were opposed by Mayor Bloomberg), Nancy Rankin, an advocate on behalf of the poor, reports that "missing rungs in the ladder make it really hard to climb out of poverty," and cutbacks in aid will make matters even worse.