NYC’s near-poverty rate drops by percentage point, de Blasio says

“The rate of near-poverty in the city has dropped by a percentage point, Mayor de Blasio announced Tuesday — the first statistically significant drop since the 2008 recession and the largest drop since 2005. The near-poverty rate includes those New Yorkers living below the poverty line, as well as New Yorkers near the poverty line — making up to 50 percent above it, or $47,634 for a family of four. The near-poverty rate dropped from 45.1% in 2014 to 44.2% in 2015, the newly released New York City Government Poverty Measure report found.”