1. In both readings social class is explained as being influenced by more than just income. The different factors mentioned were lifestyle, education and occupation. In the readings it’s talked about how social class does have an affect on the opportunities and experiences people have. Social classes also shapes how people are perceived and also how they see themselves. The main difference is that in reading 4.1 it’s more focused on the characteristics of social classes like occupation, income and education. While in reading 4.2 it’s explained how Americans perceive social classes. Reading 4.2 shows that a lot of people identify as middle class, even though their income puts them in a different category. This shows that social class is not only influence by a person‘s identity, but economic factors as well.
2. The station closest to where I live would be the 1 70th St. station. I would describe the area as mainly lower class with some variation. The area has many people who work healthcare service jobs, education, etc. There are also so many different people with different incomes and housing situations. This is another example of how social class is not just shaped by one factor but multiple. My surrounding area shows that people living in the same neighborhood can also have different educational backgrounds jobs and be in different social classes.
   

Using the data for the 2 train at 110th Street, the median income in that area is about $39,338, which falls into what Reading 4.1 would describe as the working class. This makes sense to me because being a part of this neighborhood we have a mix of families, service workers, city workers, students, and people working multiple jobs to make ends meet. I’m not really surprised by the number; it actually feels accurate for the people I come across every day. Most people in this area aren’t wealthy, but they’re not extremely poor either. They’re people who work hard, pay rent, and try to keep up with the cost of living in the city. Given my experience, I think the data gives a pretty real picture of the social class in my neighborhood.

What stood out to me is that both readings use money as the main way of separating social classes, but they go about it differently. Reading 4.1 looks at how people label themselves. It talks about things like income, education, occupation, and where someone lives, then places people into categories like working class, middle class, or upper class. Reading 4.2 takes a more visual approach and maps income onto NYC subway stops, showing how wealth changes depending on where you are in the city.

The biggest difference is that Reading 4.1 is about perception, while Reading 4.2 is about location. Someone might think of themselves as middle class, but the neighborhood they live in could tell a different story. One is focused on how people view themselves, the other on the economic reality of different areas.

The closest station to me is in the Woodhaven area of Queens. Based on Reading 4.1, I’d say it’s mostly working class with some middle-class households mixed in. That didn’t surprise me at all. Most people around here work for a living, run small businesses, or are trying to build something for themselves. It’s not a wealthy area, but it’s not struggling the way some people from outside the neighborhood might assume either.

Looking at the subway map, a pattern becomes pretty obvious. The closer you get to certain parts of Manhattan and some redeveloped areas of Brooklyn, the higher the incomes tend to be. As you move farther out into parts of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, the numbers generally start dropping. What I found interesting is how fast that change can happen. You can stay on the same train line and within a few stops go from an area with luxury apartments and six-figure incomes to a neighborhood where people are just trying to make rent. The city is connected by the same subway system, but people are living very different economic realities

1. The unexpected similarity between the Gallup poll and the New Yorker subway interactive is that both reveal how much Americans rely on a visual or mental map to justify where they belong. In Reading 4.1, people use a psychological map of occupational prestige to place themselves in the middle class, even if their actual income is incredibly high or low. In Reading 4.2, that psychological map becomes a literal, physical transit line where people measure their status by how many stops away they are from the extreme wealth of Manhattan.The radical difference in how they differentiate classes comes down to self delusion versus geographic trap. The Gallup data differentiates class through subjective identity, showing that Americans desperately want to blur class lines, with almost everyone defaulting to the label of middle class regardless of their actual wealth. The subway map completely shatters that illusion. It differentiates class through absolute structural segregation, proving that the city does not care about your self perception. It draws hard, unyielding borders at every turnstile, separating a six figure elite from a working class majority by the literal distance of a train ride.
2. Looking at the train station closest to where I live, applying the concepts from Reading 4.1 creates a bizarre contradiction. Culturally, the neighborhood feels lower middle class because it is filled with college students, young creatives, and public employees who view themselves as educated professionals. But economically, if you look at the actual income metrics that Gallup highlights, the neighborhood aligns more with the working class. I am actually quite surprised by this gap because it shows a massive disconnect between lifestyle identity and financial reality. The neighborhood is an accurate representation of a changing New York, where people who identify as middle class are living paycheck to paycheck in working class conditions just to stay in the city.
3. Based on Reading 4.2, the general pattern of social class in NYC is that the subway system acts as an economic funnel that drains wealth toward the center while pushing lower incomes to the periphery. It is not just that some neighborhoods are rich and others are poor; the pattern proves that class in New York is completely linear. As you move away from the central business districts, household income drops predictably with almost every click of the track. It reveals that social class in the city is an active, spatial sorting mechanism where your bank account dictates your physical proximity to the center of power.

1. Reading 4.1 focuses how Americans identify their own social class, based on their income levels. As one’s income increases, people tend to place themselves in higher social classes. The reading highlights how individuals rely on self‑perception when determining their class position. Highlighting that social class in the United States is layered, complex, and shaped by more than just economic status. Overall, the text demonstrates that income plays a central role in how Americans categorize themselves within the class structure.
2. According to reading 4.1, they contain a mix of working‑class, middle‑class, and upper‑middle‑class residents, depending on the type of housing. Apartment buildings tend to house working-class or lower-class families. It aligns with the reading’s point that people with lower incomes are more likely to identify as working class. Homeowners, particularly those with large houses and expensive cars, are categorized within the middle to upper class brackets as outlined in Reading 4.1. Since homeownership in this area usually requires higher income. This aligns with my neighborhood. There is a clear divide between homeowners and apartment residents. It reflects a class divide based on wealth, property ownership, and economic stability. The pattern aligns with the visible disparity in the community. Homeowners typically possess greater financial resources. While apartment residents generally have fewer resources. Overall, this seems like an accurate representation of my neighborhood, Fresh Meadows. The society class differences are visible in housing, access to resources, and the general layout of the neighborhood.
3. Reading 4.2 Unavailable

Bird, Robert, and Frank Newport. “What Determines How Americans Perceive Their Social Class?” Gallup, 27 Feb. 2017, news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/204497/determines-americans-perceive-social-class.aspx.

Bird, Robert, and Frank Newport. “What Determines How Americans Perceive Their Social Class?” Gallup, 27 Feb. 2017.

Ameerah Jameer

2. The train station closest to my house is the one located at Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave/74th St. Based on the concepts from the reading, I can say that the social classes that typically live in my neighborhood are the working and middle classes, since every day I see thousands of people heading to the train station wearing different clothes that indicate they are going to work. In addition, there is a market, restaurants, and convenience stores around the station that are accessible to everyone, and that is why, according to the reading, these characteristics make the social class of the neighborhood where I live the working and middle classes.
That doesn’t surprise me, because if I were to interview the people walking around there, they’d most likely tell me they’re working class or middle class. Besides, I live in a neighborhood where a strong work ethic and a drive to succeed are evident, so I rarely hear anyone say they’re lower class, and since the neighborhood has a hard-working, upwardly mobile vibe, I wouldn’t hear anyone say they’re upper class either.
I don’t think the findings of the survey accurately reflect the people who live in my neighborhood, since Gallup’s labels only partially capture reality; the neighborhood is constantly changing and is made up of different parts. Furthermore, while the people who use the subway station represent the working and middle classes, if we walk a few blocks around the station, we’ll realize that upper-middle-class people live there, and for this reason, a single label cannot capture the socioeconomic diversity that exists at that station. 

My nearest station is City Hall on the 4/5/6 line in Lower Manhattan. The social class of my neighborhood is split — the surrounding neighborhoods, such as Chinatown and the Lower East Side, have historically been the homes of working-class immigrants, while Tribeca just a short distance away is home to some of the wealthiest New Yorkers. I would not have been surprised if there were something that stark, given how they live in New York City, but I’m not surprised overall. It’s accurate in some ways because so many of my neighbours work in a restaurant, small business or service industry, which is a typical economic reality for the working class. But many working class people still feel they’re middle class, as the Gallup article explains, which is a disconnect between what they think and what is actually true when it comes to social class. The City Hall area eventually shows how inequality can be normalized, or invisible, when it so deeply becomes part of your everyday environment.