Mayor Bill de Blasio, at podium, recently announced a plan to create more affordable housing throughout the city.
Photo courtesy NYC Mayor’s Office
Forty one percent of New Yorkers said they would leave if they could, half of which attributed that decision to a high cost of living, the poll said. The state came in tied for sixth place along with New Jersey, bested only by Rhode Island, Nevada, Maryland, Connecticut and Illinois in that order.
“If these states sound familiar to readers of Gallup’s previous 50-state poll articles, it’s because several of them also appear at the top or bottom of the states for resident satisfaction with state taxes, state government, and overall perceptions of how their state compares to others as a place to live,” the poll said.
The study did not specify how many of that 41 percent came from New City specifically, but it did cite a high cost of living as one of the greatest relative factors for residents in New York. The state’s other top reasons for people to want to pack their bags included family or friend disputes, work or business-related issues and taxes.
The news came as no surprise to Sarah Feldman, who has been a Ridgewood resident for about three years and helps bring innovative programs to her community, including the Ridgewood Market. She just recently had to let go of her artist’s studio in Brooklyn because of its ever-rising rent and said it was an inevitable trend throughout the city.
But at the end of the day, it will always be a love-hate relationship, she said.
“There are always times when I think about leaving,” she said. “But that just might be a New York thing. Living here is like an addictive disease.”
She meant that in the best way possible, Feldman said, adding that places like New York and the city with the same name offer things she would never find anywhere else.
“The city is the only place with this kind of opportunity,” Feldman said. “But I don’t know about the future. I am going to need to figure out other ways to keep all these things going.”
Community Board 6 Chairman Joseph Hennessy said the 41 percent figure was hard for him to believe.
“It’s definitely expensive to live here. It is becoming a rich and a poor city,” he said. “But that number surprises me. For me, New York is the best place to live. The excitement keeps you alive.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio took a stab at addressing affordable housing earlier this month when he rolled out his own five-borough 10-year housing plan to make living in the city more affordable. The $41 billion plan was touted as the most expansive in the country’s history, calling for 200,000 affordable housing units by 2025 and neighborhood planning initiatives.
Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for housing and economic development, praised the plan as a means to making residency a more attainable goal for anyone.
“This is a plan that takes on our crisis of affordability from every angle,” she said of the mayor’s plan. “We are linking our housing strategies with our work to spur economic development, deliver good jobs, and revitalize neighborhoods.”
By Phil Corso
