People in Williamsburg and Bushwick are, on average, more overweight and more obese than the citywide population. This has resulted in much snark on the interweb about skinny hipsters, but the problem is real, and likely tied in to the socioeconomic realities of our neighborhoods.

The report, “Keeping Track of New York City’s Children”, was prepared by the Citizen’s Committee for Children (an executive summary (pdf) is here). The picture it paints for north Brooklyn is not pretty – in just about every measure, our community districts come out in the bottom quartile. This is particularly true of the districts that comprise Bushwick and Bed-Stuy; Williamsurg and Greenpoint proper fare slightly better.

At least some of the blame lies with economics. According to City-Data.com, the median income the five north Brooklyn zip codes is barely half that of the comparable New York City figure. In order from low to high, the median household incomes (2005) are:

• 11206 (East Williamsburg and Bed-Stuy): $21,679
• 11221 (Bushwick and Bed-Stuy): $25,912
• 11237 (Bushwick): $26,840
• 11211 (Northside and Southside, some areas east of the BQE): $27,378
• 11222 (Greenpoint): $39,0081
• Kings County: $37,332
• NYC (all boroughs): $43,434

Those bottom three zip codes roughly correspond to the Bed-Stuy and Bushwick community districts tracked by CCC (its not a direct correlation, though). In the CCC study, these districts consistently fall in the lowest quartile for all measures of children’s health. Overall, the children in these districts are at the highest risk to their well being.

• 44% to 58% of children live below the poverty line
• 13% to 16% of adults have diabetes
• 22% to 26% of adults had no fruits or vegetables in the previous day
• 26% to 30% of adults are obese

As noted, Williamsburg (north) and Greenpoint fare slightly better. In terms of obesity, these northern community districts fall into the third quartile, at 22% to 26%. In the other measures noted above, these districts also generally fall into the third quartile.

All of north Brooklyn (all five zip codes) fall into the fourth quartile in terms of number of grocery stores and supermarkets per square mile.

Given all this, its no wonder that north Brooklyn has such high levels of obesity.

1. The difference between Greenpoint’s median income and the rest of north Brooklyn is striking.↩

The good news/bad news on the water taxi keeps rolling in.

The latest good news (via this press release) is that the City Council is funding a new water taxi service between Far Rockaway and Lower Manhattan, with service starting May 12. On the North Brooklyn front, the City has secured federal funds to build new docking facilities in Northside Williamsburg and Greenpoint as part of expanded water taxi service on the East River. And, the City is ponying up $1.25 million to construct a new launch facility at Schaefer Landing.

The bad news? Well, service on the East River (Schaefer and Long Island City) won’t resume until July (you may recall that it was supposed to resume in May, er June). And the expanded service (which I presume will include a landing at the Edge and Northside Piers) won’t start up for another two years. Presumably between now and then the new residents in the Northside waterfront district will find a way to squeeze on the L train. When its running.

Actually, there is even more good news (really) in the press release. First, the MTA is studying how to connect bus service to the ferry landings, and second, EDC is working with the Real Estate Board to find “ways for impacted developers to support the East River ferry service” (I think both of these are very good ideas). Further, with the help of federal funding, a water taxi stop will be added to Roosevelt Island.

Issues of local timing (and false promises) aside, this package of funding and service expansions is good news for the long-term viability of ferry service in New York City. By subsidizing the expansion of service, the city (and feds) will hopefully create a critical mass of ridership that will sustain commuter ferry service on something more than a seasonal basis. Hopefully too, this will result in the critical mass necessary to make fares more affordable to more New Yorkers (under the current plans, the Rockaway Service will be capped at $6 each way – only a dollar more than the 10 minute trip from Schaefer Landing to Lower Manhattan). Hopefully, too, these subsidies will be enough to keep New York Water Taxi afloat – but their ability to run an efficient and successful business remains a big question mark in all of this.

Engine 212

Photo: jUSTINYC

This piece of news slipped quietly under the radar. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, NYC’s Economic Development Corporation has awarded the former Engine 212 site to the People’s Firehouse and NAG. The groups will invest an “estimated $1.3 million in the redevelopment of the Wythe Avenue site into the Northside Town Hall Community Center and Cultural Center to provide a permanent home for both organizations”.

PFI and NAG were always the leading contenders to take over 212 (ironic, in that they both fought the closing of the firehouse so fiercely). Still, its great news that this neighborhood institution will continue to serve the neighborhood, and that two worthy local non-profits will soon have new homes. Thanks to all the pols who made it happen.