Sunset Park Is Young & Economically Vibrant, NYS Comptroller Finds, But Poverty Persists

A study released earlier this month by the State Comptroller’s Office has found that Sunset Park is a growing, youthful and economically vibrant community as compared to the rest of New York City.

But the report also states that the area has an affordable housing crisis, and a poverty level surpassing that of overall Brooklyn.

The office of State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released An Economic Snapshot of the Greater Sunset Park Area earlier this month, which examines trends in population growth, industrial and other business activity, employment, housing, education and public safety.

The report analyzes the “greater Sunset Park area,” which also includes Windsor Terrace.

According to the Comptroller, the report’s key findings are:

— Since 1990, the population in the Greater Sunset Park area has grown twice as fast as in New York City overall.

— Immigrants represented 49 percent of the population in 2014, higher than the citywide share (37 percent).

— Asian residents have been the fastest- growing segment of the population since 1990, increasing by 241 percent.

— Private sector employment increased by 9.9 percent over the past two years, setting a new record of 39,920 jobs.
(NOTE: the jobs are located within the Sunset Park area, but area residents do not necessarily hold them.)

— Healthcare is the largest employment sector in Sunset Park, accounting for one- quarter of the jobs.

— Manufacturing accounted for 11.3 percent of all private sector jobs, the highest concentration in any City neighborhood.

— Restaurants, bars and hotels accounted for less than 6 percent of the jobs in the area, but nearly one-fifth of the jobs added since the end of the recession.

— Since 2009, the median household income of area residents increased twice as fast as in Brooklyn overall, but poverty and affordable housing remain concerns.

— School enrollment rose by 55 percent during the past 15 years. Despite the addition of several new schools, school overcrowding remains a problem.

Growth For Whom?

Despite the overall positive tone of the report, it raises questions about which Sunset Park residents are benefitting most from the “growth” described by the Comptroller.

Comptroller DiNapoli notes that housing affordability and overcrowding have become serious issues in the community. Home values have more than tripled since 2002, “making it increasingly difficult for area residents to purchase homes.”

Rents have grown faster than household incomes, the report states. The area’s “median monthly rent rose from $750 in 2002 to $1,225 in 2014…an increase of 63 percent. [However] median household income increased by only 25 percent during this period.”

A growing number of Sunset Park residents are having trouble paying their rents, the Comptroller states flatly.

In 2014, the report says, “more than half (52 percent) of area residents devoted more than 30 percent of their household income to rent (the level at which rent is a considered a burden), up from 40 percent of residents in 2002.”

Similarly, in 2014, “more than one-quarter of area residents (27 percent) faced a severe rent burden, devoting more than half of their household income to rent.”

Difficulty in finding affordable housing has led to overcrowding, the report states. “In 2014, one-fifth of area households lived in apartments with more than one person per room, compared to 11.3 percent of households in Brooklyn and 9.9 percent citywide.”

“There have been numerous complaints about illegal conversions in the area,” the Comptroller adds.

Job Growth Yet The Persistence of Poverty

An interesting article by Patch reporter John Santore raises the question of how many of the new jobs created in the Sunset Park area have actually gone to local residents.

The Comptroller’s report states that local residents are certainly finding jobs — “the unemployment rate of area residents

But despite the fact that the area’s median household income ($48,050 in 2014) has increased twice as fast as that of Brooklyn overall in the last seven years — poverty persists.

Over a quarter of the households in the Sunset Park area (26 percent) had incomes below the federal poverty line in 2014, the Comptroller states.

Across Brooklyn, the percentage of households living below the poverty line is 22 percent.