COVID-19 erased New York’s Employment Gains over the Past Decade From June 2011 to June 2019, New York saw employment increase by 388,440 – 4.4%. But by June 2021, the pandemic had erased all those gains. In June, the state’s employment was lower than in 2011 – by 72,916 jobs or 0.8%. Both before the COVID pandemic and in June 2021, New York’s job performance […]
New York’s Population Increased by 823,147 between 2010 and 2020 while Upstate’s Declined Based on the newly released 2020 Census data, New York’s population grew by 823,147 residents – 4.25% – between 2010 and 2020. The State’s performance was similar to others in its region and not far from the median growth rate for all states – 5.9%. But, more than three-quarters of the population growth took place […]
Poverty in Upstate Metropolitan Areas: Myths and Realities We live in an era in which long-held attitudes about race have been heightened by political campaigns that attempt to mobilize fears among white voters about minority group members and immigrants. These appeals have ranged from claims that President Obama is a Muslim who was born in Kenya and claims that criminal undocumented immigrants endanger […]
Positive COVID Tests and Hospitalizations More than Doubled In New York After September 1st The number of COVID-19 positive tests and hospitalizations in New York State has sharply increased since September 1st. The number of daily positive tests identified on October 28th was 1,739, compared with 677 on September 1st – an increase of 157%. Current hospitalizations increased from 457 to 1,042 during the same period – an increase […]
Covid-19 Cases Increase Unevenly in New York Through this Summer, Covid-19 case numbers remained low in New York State. Though the numbers remain far below the levels of March and April, the rate of infection statewide is increasing. In July and August, the state averaged between three and four cases per 100,000 residents per day. By October the number had increased to […]
Don’t Make Poor Districts Shoulder the Burden An opinion piece written for the Albany Times-Union: https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Viewpoint-Don-t-make-poor-districts-shoulder-the-15573324.php
Covid-19: The Cost in Lost Jobs With more than 190,000 lives lost and millions infected, Covid-19 has imposed a tragic toll on residents of the United States. New York State was hit hard early on, and has lost 32,600 residents to the disease as of early September But strong controls that shut down much of the state’s economy for weeks during […]
New York’s School Aid Cuts Will Disproportionately Harm Poor Districts A recent Albany Times-Union report “recently warned officials they should expect state aid payments to be reduced by 20 percent.” The source of the report was the Questar III Board of Cooperative Educational Services State Aid and Financial Planning. The Times-Union article went on to report that “Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state budget […]
Covid-19: Rapid Growth in Cases Exposes Vulnerabilities Although the Northeast, particularly New York State, was the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in March and April, states like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts imposed stringent measures that limited personal interactions, such as closing all non-essential worksites, limiting gatherings to groups of 10 or less, and requiring people to wear masks in settings […]
Despite Agitation to Reopen Businesses, Upstate Covid-19 Cases Are Not Declining Upstate areas are seeing increasing pressure to reopen currently closed businesses as the economic damage from Covid-19 restrictions increases. With millions of New Yorkers unemployed and businesses facing the prospect of permanent closure, there is real need for relief. But reopening should take place in a way that does not lead to significant growth in […]
