NEW YORK STATE | County Deaths from COVID (1)

This table is updated on April 3, 2020.

March 27, 2020–As of yesterday, Bronx County (Borough of The Bronx) was the epicenter of coronavirus fatalities, within the New York City epicenter. 

It had suffered 5.8 deaths per 100,000 population, the highest rate of the large counties. 

The table shows all the New York counties with 300,000 population or more. NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo's observation that density is a key predictor of the spread of the virus is generally valid. However, within the five counties/boroughs of New York City, the fatalities may be affected by where people work, where they live and where they are hospitalized. 

The data in the table should be watched as an indicator of how the virus is spreading within the state and how hospitals are being challenged by lack of masks, testing kits and ventilators. New York State this week is where other states may be in three weeks.

NY STATE | Recent Prosperity Originates Downstate

L to R: John Tepper Marlin, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY12)
 and Tim Bishop (D-NY1). Photo by Alice Tepper Marlin.

Rep. Tim Bishop spoke at an event over the weekend welcoming back Rep. Carolyn Maloney from China.

Bishop told the group in Bridgehampton, NY that he would be facing a challenger backed again by Tea Party bankrollers.

The reason is that NY-1 had one of the weakest majorities for Obama in the last election.

However, if the plan is to dredge up the last campaign's attacks on Bishop for not doing enough for the Suffolk County economy, as both opposition candidates promised, recent new data do not support the idea that Suffolk County has been slipping.

On the contrary, Nassau and Suffolk had New York State's lowest metro area unemployment rate in May and again in June. On a county basis, both Nassau and Suffolk had among the lowest ten unemployment rates of 62 NY State countries, averaging 4.9 percent. By comparison, the Bronx unemployment rate was 10.8 percent and Brooklyn's was 8.3 percent. The NYC unemployment rate fell slightly between June and July. The unemployment rate has increased slightly in the United States in July compared with June, seasonally adjusted, and in NY State outside of NY City. NY State’s unemployment rate was unchanged between June and July, at 6.6 percent, the lowest level since November 2008.

NY State jobs were again in July above 9 million, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning (Table D). This is the third consecutive month of jobs above 9 million, and the 20th consecutive month of jobs growth. The state added 17,300 private-sector jobs. Total private-sector jobs in NY State are at an all-time high of more than 7.6 million.  Jobs in NY State have grown in 38 of the past 43 months

Private-sector jobs have continued to grow in July 2014 compared with the same month in 2013:

United States                          +2.2%
New York State                      +1.9%
Downstate NY (10-co. area)    +2.4%
New York City                         +3.0%
Suburban Counties                 +1.2%
Nassau-Suffolk                       +1.6%
Upstate NY (52-co. area)        +0.9%

In the 10-county Downstate region, private-sector jobs grew by 2.4% over the past year. Downstate’s private-sector job growth was most rapid in New York City (+3.0 percent) and in Nassau-Suffolk (+1.6 percent).

In the 52-county Upstate region, private-sector jobs grew 0.9 percent over the past year. Private-sector job growth occurred in both the region’s metro areas (+1.0 percent) and in counties outside of metro areas (+0.3 percent). One metro area in the state lost private sector jobs between July 2013 and July 2014, i.e., Syracuse (-1.2 percent).

Rep. Bishop has been a major advocate for education in the Congress, and (private) educational and health services are the fastest-growing sector in NY State.

NY State Major Industry Sectors that Gained Jobs
 Growth between July 2013 and July 2014 (details here):
Educational & Health Services*       +53,400
Professional & Business Services     +30,600
Trade, Transportation & Utilities        +28,200
Leisure & Hospitality                         +22,200
Construction                                     +8,400
Other Services                                  +5,800
Financial Activities                                +500
Information                                           +400
Natural Resources & Mining                 +300
*Educational and health services are in the private sector.

A Tea Party opponent will have trouble making the argument that Rep. Bishop has been allowing government employment to get out of control in NY State, since government jobs in NY State fell during the year ending July 2014.

Major Sectors that Lost Jobs (Decline between July 2013 and July 2014)
Manufacturing                                     -9,200
Government**                                     -6,200
**Government jobs include public education and public health services.

NYC - Manhattan Tops 2.5 Million Jobs in 4Q13

Manhattan Jobs Passed 2.5 Million in 4Q13

Manhattan jobs grew 2.4 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the fourth quarter of 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning.

The base of 2.5 million jobs will be a marker for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The Manhattan (aka New York County) growth rate was among the 100 best of the 335 largest counties in the United States.

The best-performing borough in New York City was Brooklyn, with 4.5 percent growth, followed by Staten Island with 4.4 percent and the Bronx with 2.9 percent. Queens trailed with 1.5 percent growth.

The average weekly wage in Manhattan fell 3.3 percent over the year, to $2,041, trailing San Mateo, Calif., which was $2,724 in 4Q13.  San Mateo's income fell even more than Manhattan's, as did that of Washington, DC and Tulsa, Okla.

NYC | More Catholic, Jewish, Muslim

At the beginning of the Aeneid, Virgil describes how Aeneas came from Troy to what became Rome and brought his households gods along ("inferretque deos Latio" - he brought with him his religion to Latium). As America's Number One immigrant gateway city, New York City has many Aeneases. What the city lacks in mainline and even evangelical Protestant adherents it more than makes up for in numbers of Catholic, Jewish and Muslim adherents.

NYC vs. Nation: More Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Less Protestant. New York City is much more Catholic (62 percent versus 44 percent) and much more Jewish (22 percent versus 4.3 percent) than the rest of the United States. It's also more Muslim (more than 2 percent, compared with only about a half of 1 percent of all Americans).

Protestants are much less well represented. Only 4.2 percent of NYC religious adherents belong to evangelical Protestant churches, compared with 28.2 percent nationally. Only 6.5 percent belong to mainline Protestant churches, compared with 18.5 percent nationally.

By Borough. Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn have a higher proportion of Jews and Muslims, while Staten Island and the Bronx are much more Catholic. Manhattan has the highest proportion of mainline Protestants, while Brooklyn leads in numbers of Evangelical Protestants.

Percent of All Adherents by Borough
Catholic Bk 58.8% M 52.5% Q 60.0% SI 79.6% Bx 77.5%
Evangelical Protestant Bk 5.5% M 3.0% Q 3.9% SI 2.8% Bx 4.2%
Mainline Protestant Bk 6.6% M 9.3% Q 5.7% SI 4.3% Bx 4.7%
Jewish Bk 24.4% M 29.2% Q 22.2% SI 10.1% Bx 11.2%
Muslim Bk 3.7% M 3.4% Q 4.9% SI 2.4% Bx 1.6%
Eastern Orthodox Bk 0.7% M 1.8% Q 2.7% SI 0.6% Bx 0.5%

Source: Andrew Beveridge of Queens College, CUNY in Gotham Gazette today, using data released February 1 by Social Explorer and the Association of Religious Data Archives.