- I noticed that in both 4.1 and 4.2 readings social class is being focused on income and location, and how New York has a problem with income inequality. Where ever an individual might live or decide to go classifies social class. Especially depending where the individual lives for instance Manhattan, the income there is the highest out of all boroughs. In reading 4.2 it shows how the 4 line the highest income is Brooklyn bridge city hall and grand central 42st. the difference between both readings is that 4.1 goes into detail about social class and talks about social class with education. In 4.2 it’s more of a graph that shows you the income of each location in each train line.
- Using concepts from reading 4.1 the social class in my neighborhood is “working class” im not sure wether I should be surprised or if I should’ve been known. Fordham is known for houses the borough’s largest and most diverse shopping district.
- in 4.2 reading I noticed Manhattan has the highest income rate no matter what line you live by it’s still the highest in the charts.
Belinda Hinckley-Discussion Board 4.1
- Do you notice any similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2? Do you notice any differences in the way these two readings DIFFERENTIATE between social classes?
In readings 4.1 and 4.2 there are few similarities in which social class is discussed. In both readings they focus on total household income. As depicted on both the subway graph and Gallup article, income is key element in as to what social class people place themselves in. People at the lowest household income are most likely to identify at lower, middle, or working class, where those at the highest income bracket identify as upper-middle and upper-class. Additionally, the two readings also center around people’s social class in terms of the location they live in. For example, reading 4.1 states that people who tend to live in rural, countryside locations are less likely to place themselves in the high social class bracket than those who live in urban and suburban areas. In reading 4.2 displayed on the subway map image, you will observe evidence to support this statement. On the map, people who live in the borough of Manhattan tend to have higher incomes than those who live in Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx (the only exception being York Street, the first Brooklyn stop on the F line).
There are multiple differences within these two pieces in terms of making distinctions between the social classes. In reading 4.1 the reader receives a more thorough analysis of the elements that helps one determine their social class. As determined in reading 4.1, they describe social class in terms of someone’s education, race, job, political party affiliation, marital status, age, and gender. The graphs in 41. also provide the specific social class people identify as in relation to their household income, ranging from lower, working, middle, upper-middle, and upper-class. Reading 4.1 additionally provides the reader with details about how education impacts how people view their social class. As stated in the reading, working class identification falls with those who graduated college, thus causing the upper-middle class identification to increase substantially. The middle-class identification stays the same regardless of education level, and less than half categorize themselves as working class at any level of education. As far as age goes, those who are 65 and older tend to put themselves in a higher social class as opposed to those who are much younger. The reading in 4.2 gives extraordinarily little detail as to the specific backgrounds of the people incorporated into the graph. The only details we get are how much money these people make in their respective neighborhoods/subway stops.
2. Pick the station closest to where you live. Using the concepts from Reading 4.1, what social class tends to live in your neighborhood? Are you surprised (or not) by the answer? Do you feel it is an accurate representation of the people living in your neighborhood?
According to the information found on the graph in reading 4.1 and the subway map in reading 4.2, my neighborhood can be categorized as middle to upper-middle class, with a median income of $98,646. I’m not surprised by this news due to my neighborhood being widely known for its extravagant brownstone buildings, with a verity of expensive restaurants, bars, local coffee shops, parks, and above average schools. Recently my neighborhood made it to the top ten most expensive locations in Brooklyn. However, because there are quite a few families who have lived in my neighborhood for many generations, the income of those who live there may vary. This is due to the probability of them inheriting their homes from older or deceased family members. This is an accurate representation of my neighborhood because I’ve watched it develop and change for over 25 years. It has changed from a nice quiet area, with a lot of schools and parks, into a heavily populated area with quality restaurants, expensive boutiques, and superior nightlife. These new elements are bringing in more young wealthy people with families who would have previously preferred to live in the city due to its impressive accommodations. Additionally, my neighborhood is attracting several travelers from both inside and outside of the country.
3. Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?
In relation to the graph in reading 4.2 I’ve noticed that in the Borough of Manhattan people tend to lean towards the upper-middle and upper-class systems. People in the Bronx tend to have the lowest income, and therefore, part of the lower- or working-class systems. Consistent with the graph, Brooklyn has both lower class, middle class, and upper-class people living within the borough. Queens falls somewhere in the middle with a mostly middle-class population. I additionally observed that those who classify as upper-class New York citizens live around Chambers Street and Park Place both averaging a $205,192 income. What has also come to my attention is that the U.S. Census Bureau left out neighborhoods located in Staten Island because they don’t use the New York City subway system to travel. Therefore, it is not a complete graph of New York City’s social class identification. This leaves me curious as to how the data would change if the income from Staten Island was also incorporated.
Joseph Paige – Discussion Board 4.1
1. Readings 4.1 and 4.2 both discuss and analyze social class in America. The first article is based on a poll taken by the website, which asks random people what their perceived social class is. The second article takes information on median household income and applies it to subway stops in the five boroughs of New York, in order to illustrate its point on wealth inequality.
Both articles make important points about the separation of classes based on area. On the New Yorker model, income can, and often does, shift wildly from stop to stop. Additionally, both articles have an inherent view of income as being one of the most – if not the most – important factors in discussing and differentiating between classes. While the first article is more about understanding how people of different income levels view themselves (subjective social class), it mentions at the beginning that a study of objective social class would have to entail income. This gives some perspective into the beliefs on class of the writer of this article.
2. The median income of my subway stop is a little over 90,000. This would posit it, based on reading 4.1, as a majority middle class area. Frankly, I am a little surprised by this. Given how people dress, how people act, and the prices of groceries, food, and housing, I expected it to be around 110-120k. But when I thought about it it started to make more sense to me. While there are a lot of wealthy families and retirees in my area, there is also a large and popular student apartment building, which I assume lowers the median income a little bit.
3. Based on 4.2 I noticed that a lot of the areas for subway stops in Manhattan have a median over 100k. This was not completely surprising to me, but some of the extreme dips in Manhattan income did. The 23rd St. stop in Manhattan makes 114k, but the next two stops make in the 50s, only to immediately shoot up to 110k after them. While these dips are few, it was still interesting how quickly it changes so dramatically.
Additionally, I was surprised at how few stops in Brooklyn make a median over 100k. Even the “nicer” areas tend to have significantly lower medians than most of Manhattan.
Kianna Changoo – What Does “Social Class” Mean To You?
1.) The term “Social Class” is often used amongst many citizens throughout the country, but for good reason. Not only does it allow an individual to start thinking about their current financial situation, but mostly how they compare to others. “Working,” “Middle,” “Upper,” etc… are all but a few of the labels that are used in order to categorize where people think they are financially. But how and why people pick certain labels are questionable. This is because you have to consider what factors does someone think about in order to determine how they classify their amount of wealth. With this being said, in readings 4.1 and 4.2, each article revolves around the idea of social class. I notice that they both share the similarity of using graphs as a visual representation of data. They also share the similarity of classifying social class by using household income. Lastly, each graph on both sides consists of having a “trend” or varying in data based on different things in relation to what they show. On the other hand, they differ from each other as well. Reading 4.1 talks about how people determine their social class, whether it be by household income or education level. It’s data is taken from Gallup, who has surveyed American’s for the sole purpose of understanding where they would place themselves in the social class spectrum. While reading 4.2 shifts focus on using New York’s subway and uses the different train lines and their stops to give an estimate on what people who live there make within a year. They use this to show a means of classification because you would then realize that people who live in a particular place make more money within a year compared to those elsewhere. Another difference that I noticed is reading 4.1 uses 5 labels for classification of people; lower, working, middle, upper-middle, and upper. Not only does this clearly help to understand various groups and create easy understanding within the graph but also, they are each color coordinated. For instance, when you observe the graph, the color grey would indicate “working” or dark green means “upper.” For reading 4.2, it has not real coloring on the graph to indicate anyone is of any subcategory. Depending on the subway train you picked, it will only show the two boroughs that the train passes through and the household income of someone for a particular stop. Lastly, reading 4.1 uses bars in their display of data whilst 4.2 uses a line graph.
2.) The train station that is closest to my house is the L line. The social class that tends to live within my neighborhood are lower, working, and middle. The highest amount someone in my borough (Brooklyn) makes is 67,946 in Graham Ave. and the lowest is apparently 12,288 in Sutter Ave. With this information in mind, I am honestly not surprised by the answer because of how I see people are within my neighborhood. Although people within my neighborhood have jobs and work on a daily basis but you can see that they still struggle. My block mostly consists of old cars, you’ll only see a couple of people who own a car of recent dating and trendy branding such as BMW or Mercedes Benz. Not to mention, people here do own homes but they aren’t lavishly renovated and have looked the same for years. Not to mention, most of their jobs consists of labor that requires you to really work hard to make ends meet. To name a few; Uber, construction, MTA, etc…
3.) Based on reading 4.2, the pattern that I notice in regards to social classes in New York is some boroughs have people who make a lot within a given year compared to others regardless of the stop. For instance, for the L line, it makes it’s way between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Some places are typically known for being more wealthy than others. The highest amount in Manhattan is 150,110 in 14 st. 6th ave, whilst the highest in Brooklyn is 67,946 in Graham Ave. Not only is this a significant difference but it is also safe to say that depending on where you are, the statistics change.
Tristan Flinn 4.1
In the first reading 4.1 which has far more to say about actual social class and the roots and causes of it. Heritage, life style, living situation, attitude in life and toward your figure, who people see you as. While the other one if I am correct and clicked on the right link, brings us to a place where we can access income in subway neighborhoods, and basically it said if you’re from Manhattan you are well off and if you are from any other burrough you are poor and your income is not as high, so a somewhat simplified version. Lots of households do not make over 50 K a year, which is not even that much for yourself, yet alone if you have a family. 4.1 does dive deeper into how many people make a certain amount of money and how many people have billions of dollars
2.With the closet stop being 110th on the c train for me the average making is 57 thousand per year. I am surprised and sort of not surprised by this, my area is a mix of all the neighborhoods, and its a nice area at times. It has become a little more expensive because of some of these super fancy buildings that have been put in since my family moved in during 2002. I feel it is an accurate representation because The area is not super rich and high class but does have some nice beautiful things about it.
3. I’ve noticed that everyone who doesn’t live directly in Manhattan has less income yearly. And it is probably because Manhattan is overpriced when it comes to everything. The graph also almost perfectly levels up as you get closer to Chambers street.
Destiny Balbi
Identification to social classes
- Do you notice any similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2? Do you notice any differences in the way these two readings DIFFERENTIATE between social classes?
Something that was similar with both readings is that both discussed numbers and information about social classes. It mentioned how we perceive ourselves when it comes to identifying with a social class.They discuss it based on income , age ,race, etc..But the difference between the two is both writers seem to differ on many ways when it came to ranking these classes. Such as the charts used, article one uses a date chart while using different categories, whereas the second graph uses a line graph.
- Pick the station closest to where you live. Using the concepts from Reading 4.1, what social class tends to live in your neighborhood? Are you surprised (or not) by the answer? Do you feel it is an accurate representation of the people living in your neighborhood?
I live on Kingsbridge Road so I live on the D line. And the median income was 18k. That would mean others in my neighborhood and I are in the lower class. To be honest, I am not surprised. The building I live in is a mess and hasn’t had a maintenance check in years. The block is always a mess. We also have a lot of cheap brand stores around us such as dollar trees and 99cent stores.I always knew we were lower class hence that money was always an issue. It’s just sad to see the reality. I do believe it’s an accurate representation of my neighborhood because everyone in my neighborhood kind of knows everybody, so income is something we all kind of talk about and we all made around the same money so this is pretty accurate.
- Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?
Something I noticed about social classes is that the stigma that “ living in Manhattan means you’re rich” is true. While the people who live in Manhattan are neither wealthy nor rich, they are still stable enough to live comfortably in Manhattan. People in Manhattan tend to land in the upper class.
Discussion Board 4.1
Keep in mind our Online Discussion Guidelines:
https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/pol-100-0505-introduction-to-american-government-fall-2022/online-discussion-guidelines/
Instructions for completing this discussion board assignment:
a) Identify which discussion question you are answering in your comment by placing the relevant number at the start of your answer. For example:
2. Crime has often been used as a form of social control by…
4. Michelle Alexander’s argument about segregation…
b) Respond to one other student’s comments.
NOTE: As usual, follow the guidelines from previous discussion board assignments, in answering by creating a new post…
- Do you notice any similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2? Do you notice any differences in the way these two readings DIFFERENTIATE between social classes?
- Pick the station closest to where you live. Using the concepts from Reading 4.1, what social class tends to live in your neighborhood? Are you surprised (or not) by the answer? Do you feel it is an accurate representation of the people living in your neighborhood?
- Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?
