In light of the issue of racial segregation becoming a political flashpoint in New York City, the recent release of Social Explorer CEO Andrew Beveridge’s report, analyzing the data on the allocation of affordable housing units in the city, did little to alleviate concerns. Quoting Beveridge’s report, The New York Times article “What the City Didn’t Want the Public to Know: Its Policy Deepens Segregation” stated that the city’s policy, dating back to the 1980s which gives local residents priority in lotteries for new affordable housing, ‘perpetuates segregation more (and allows integration less) than what would exist without the policy.” The centerpiece of these new revelations, the report found that the city’s policy imposed a ‘sorting process’ which perpetuates residential segregation in New York City by race and ethnicity. Beveridge examined data from 7.2 million affordable housing applications for 10,245 city-subsidized apartments from 2012 to 2017, comparing that to census data for the areas surrounding the affordable housing apartments on offer. 

Use Social Explorer’s interactive data and mapping tools to visualize the percentage of the African-American or Hispanic population in NYC, or check out the city’s population composition.