NYC's poorest neighborhoods have highest death rates from coronavirus

NEW YORK — People living in the poorest New York City neighborhoods are dying from coronavirus at more than double the rate of more affluent neighborhoods, according to new data released by the city’s Health Department.

In zip codes where at least 30 percent of people live in poverty, the death rate from Covid-19 is 232 for every 100,000 people — compared to 100 in low-poverty neighborhoods, where less than 10 percent of the population is poor.

The data is the latest indication of deep disparities in how the coronavirus has affected New York City, the national epicenter of the pandemic. In total, 20,806 New Yorkers have died from the disease.

“This public health emergency has affected all of our communities,” Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot said in a statement. “This virus is not hitting New Yorkers equitably and that reality is guiding the COVID-19 response.”

The neighborhood with the highest death rate in the city is a section of East New York, Brooklyn that is home to the massive Starrett City housing complex. There have been 76 deaths in the area, out of about 13,000 residents.

The next highest death rate is in Far Rockaway in Queens, followed by part of Flushing in Queens, a section of the northeast Bronx, and Coney Island in Brooklyn.

Across the city, outer borough working class and low-income neighborhoods suffered the highest death rates. Lower rates were seen in Manhattan south of Harlem and parts of brownstone Brooklyn and western Queens.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday evening that the same areas suffering from Covid-19 deaths have long lacked adequate medical care that might have prevented some of the underlying conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, which are more prevalent in low-income communities.

“So many people we lost never had the opportunity to have even the basics of high quality health care,” he said during an appearance on NY1. “And that underlies this whole crisis.”

Earlier, the city released data that showed stark racial disparities in deaths from the coronavirus, with black and Latino residents dying at roughly twice the rate of white people. That trend has continued, with Latino residents dying at the highest rate, followed by black residents.

High-poverty neighborhoods had more cases of Covid-19, but the gap in cases is smaller than the gap in death rates. That suggests that residents of poor neighborhoods are both more likely to contract the virus, and more likely to succumb if they get it.

Only two zip codes in the city, both in lower Manhattan’s financial district, had no deaths from Covid-19.

The death rate is highest in the Bronx, followed by Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan.

Corona, Queens continues to lead the city in number of cases, followed by Fordham in the Bronx, Elmhurst in Queens and Borough Park in Brooklyn. Citywide, the number of confirmed cases is up to 191,073 as of Monday.

The city also released new data Monday measuring Covid-19’s impact at the city’s public housing developments.

At least 1,241 New York City Housing Authority residents have died from the virus, and there have been 7,818 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among public housing residents.

The Grant Houses in west Harlem were hardest hit, with 22 deaths and 127 cases.