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Brooklyn, Bronx Kids At High Risk in City's Well-Being Ranking, Study Says

By Camille Bautista | February 4, 2015 8:17am
 Children in Bronx and Brookyn communities were at the highest-risk in well-being, according to a ranking report from the Citizen's Committee for Children. 
Children in Bronx and Brookyn communities were at the highest-risk in well-being, according to a ranking report from the Citizen's Committee for Children. 
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

BROOKLYN — A new study highlighting the state of New York's kids reveals a “tale of two cities” in Brooklyn, according to one advocacy organization.

The “Community Risk Ranking” report from the Citizens’ Committee for Children shows the borough’s disparity when it comes to economic security, housing stability and family environment — with some Brooklyn kids living just blocks apart have strikingly different outcomes.

In relation to children's well-being in the city’s 59 community districts, Brooklyn neighborhoods rank among the worst and the best across the city. Park Slope, Borough Park and Fort Greene make up the list of lowest-risk neighborhoods and northern Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, and Brownsville are among the highest.

“What the report points out is that while the city has been doing an enormous amount through services to help families that are struggling, the need is so enormous in other communities that we need to go deeper,” said Sharman Stein, director of communications at SCO Family of Services, an organization that links city residents to supportive programs.

As Mayor Bill de Blasio’s State of the City report Tuesday highlighted affordable housing requirements in areas like East New York (ranking number 52 out of 59 in moderate high-risk neighborhoods), the new study seeks to help prioritize similar initiatives like expanded access to rent subsidies and greater family services to improve the lives of city children, a CCC spokesperson added.

The ranking, released Monday, paints a picture of the factors putting children at risk, including the child poverty rate, infant mortality, rental overcrowding and early education enrollment.

The agency pins Battery Park as the number one area of overall lowest risk to kids, while Hunts Point in The Bronx rounds out the list as the highest-risk community.

The neighborhood had a 59.3 percent child poverty rate in 2012, more than nine times the 6.5 percent rate in Battery Park/Tribeca, according to the report. 

The review displays the interrelation of risk factors — not only does Hunts Point have the highest figures for child poverty, but the highest rate of adults with less than a high school diploma (45.2 percent) and the lowest rate of on-time high school graduation at 32.9 percent.

The CCC's findings also showed a citywide imbalance: the average family in Mott Haven/Hunts Point makes less than $20,000, which is one-tenth of the income of the average family with children living on the Upper East Side.

Other findings in the report:

► Economic Security
• Lowest risk: Upper East Side
 Highest Risk: Mott Haven and Hunts Point

► Housing
 Lowest risk: Upper East Side, Murray Hill and Park Slope.
 Highest risk: East New York, Sunset Park, Morrisania, and University Heights were included in the top 10

► Health
 Lowest risk: Borough Park, Battery Park, and Sunset Park
 Highest risk: East Flatbush, Brownsville, Jamaica, Central Harlem, Queens Village, and East Tremont.

► Education
 Lowest Risk: Battery Park, Bayside, Upper West Side
 Highest Risk: Hunts Point, Unionport, Concourse