Rebecca Kreiser
Reflection 3 of 5
Inequality and New York’s Subways. New
Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/sandbox/business/subway.html
“Take the A train to Little Guyana: Immigrant Enclaves in NYC” – Kirk Semple
Graphing the relationship between income brackets and subway stops is an interesting idea that demonstrates how people with great income disparities interact on a daily basis. This phenomenon shapes our city because it means that unlike in other places, the rich and poor of NYC interact with each other all the time. And exposure to people from various backgrounds and tax brackets can broaden an individual’s world view.
“New York City has a problem with income inequality. And it’s getting worse—the top of the spectrum is gaining and the bottom is losing. Along individual subway lines, earnings range from poverty to considerable wealth” (The New Yorker). This data proves that although, the poor come in contact with the rich very often- they are not benefiting economically. Why? This is a question that warrants a lot of research.
However, there may be other benefits to interacting with people from other economic brackets- most of them social. For instance, I have a habit of reading over the shoulders of the people sitting next to me on the train. I cannot begin to count the amount of times I read books on topics I never heard of before just because the person across from me looked super engrossed in their book. For those in need of a book recommendation, maybe ride the subway with a watchful eye?
The article “Take the A Train to little Guyana: Immigrant Enclaves in NYC,” further demonstrates how much diversity one person can be exposed to via the subway system. The R train takes you to the Mexican enclave in Sunset Park and the Arabic enclave in Bay Ridge. The D train takes you to the Ghanaian enclave in the Bronx or to the Hasidic Jewish enclave in Boro Park. The author of the article, Kirk Semple, even writes, “Because the foods and goods of home are such a central part of these communities, we have included places to find typical fare in each neighborhood, as well as retail spots that cater to the immigrant population. Think of them as possible starting points for exploration.”
This point suggests that no matter the class differences between people, there is a lot of openness and room for exploration. All you have to do is hop on the subway and you can be a visitor in whichever enclave you so desire. Based on the graphs, people from different ethnic neighborhoods have various incomes, but the subway connects them all.
- What have you learned while riding the subway?
- Can you think of other benefits to riding the subway with people from various income brackets?
