Poverty and Crime in New York City

1. Is there a significant geospatial correlation between poverty and crime in NYC?
2. What is the total poverty and crime rate in NYC?
3. Where is the poverty and crime most significant in NYC?

It is hypothesized that a positive geospatial correlation exists between poverty and crime in in the area of New York City region.

New York City is known as the “city that never sleeps” as there is always an event, tourism, work, and entertainment taking place. New York City is one of the biggest cities in the world, as millions of people live and work in this area (8,804,190 million people and growing). However, New York City has been growing exceedingly in homelessness and poverty. In addition to poverty, crime rates in New York City have also been prevalent. But, is there any correlation between areas that have both poverty and crime?

New York City is one of the most well known cities in the world, as it is known for its entertainment, social diversity, and employment opportunities. However, New York City's poverty rate has drastically been increasing every day year since the 1980's. According to the article, "Focus on Poverty in New York City", by The Stoop, the poverty rate in New York City is higher than the United States poverty rate. "In 2015, about 27.5% of New York City neighborhoods were low-poverty (poverty rate of zero to 10%); 52.8% were moderate-poverty (poverty rate between 10% and 30%); 11% were high-poverty (poverty rate between 30% and 40%); and 8.7% were extreme-poverty (poverty rate over 40%)" (The Stoop 2017).

Individuals who live in low economic areas, were more susceptible to have higher violent crime rates, poorer educational systems, and fewer adults with a college degree. In addition, individuals who are living in low-higher poverty areas participate in illegal activities such as shoplifting, lotting, and vandalism. "Petit larceny was the most serious charge. At least 308 of the 1,092 defendants — roughly 28% — were known to be homeless" (Goldensohn 2019).

The methods I used to conduct my research to create the map are as follow:

• Located my study area by searching New York City, USA in the upper right corner of the map.
• Changing the original style of the Basemap to Light Grey Canvas.
• Adding a Living Atlas Layer, USA Census Tract Areas
• Enriching the Layer by adding the two variables: 2019 HH's Income Below Poverty Level (ACS 5-Yr) and 2021 Total Crime Index.
• Styled the layer and chose the attribute 2019 HH's Income Below Poverty Level
• Added another attribute 2021 Total Crime Index and changed the theme to "above and below.
• Configured pop-ups to make the data in the NYC Demographics layer easier to read and to provide more useful information.

This geospatial basemap shows the overall poverty and crime rates in the City of New York and surrounding county's.

This advanced geospatial map shows, in the area of NYC and surrounding counties, where poverty and crime is prevalent.

The poverty and crime rates in NYC have a somewhat strong positive correlation, with R-squared values of 0.261 (poverty) and 0.202 (crime). The counties of New York have a correlation between both poverty and crime in these areas, but specially in NYC, the correlation between these two variables are more significant. Thus, proving our hypothesis correct.

Within the variables, the poverty household data was not up-to-date, compared to the poverty variable, as the poverty variable was taken place in 2019 and the crime variable was collected from our present year (2021). I felt that this may have weakened my analysis due to the gap-years in the data collection.

From my perspective, data collection such as surveys and interviews are the most insightful sources, as they show individuals real experiences. If I had more time to complete this assignment, I would life to interview individuals who are currently living in poverty driven areas and create survey's to those who feel safe in these areas. Information such as those who have witnessed or have known an individual or have personally taken part in a criminal act due to their environment/circumstances is helpful to gain a stronger analysis.

Goldensohn, Rosa. “New York's Most Desperate Caught up in 'Crimes of Poverty'.” The City, THE CITY, 14 Oct. 2019, https://www.thecity.nyc/justice/2019/10/14/21210757/new-york-s-most-desperate-caught-up-in-crimes-of-poverty. 

The Stoop, “Focus on Poverty in New York City.” NYU Furman Center, The Stoop, 7 June 2017, https://furmancenter.org/thestoop/entry/focus-on-poverty.