Chapter 4: Social Conditions A. INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY This chapter addresses a variety of issues that support social conditions, including population and housing characteristics, community facilities and open spaces, and neighborhood character. The discussion of social conditions considers the entire MESA study area (depicted in Figure 3-1 in Chapter 3, above) with particular focus on the project corridor—the routes proposed for the various project alternatives—where the greatest potential for change would occur. Because none of the project alternatives have the potential to change social conditions in the secondary study area, where Build Alternatives 1 and 2 would add service along an existing subway line, this analysis is of the primary study area only. The analysis was conducted by first compiling existing data for population and housing, com- munity facilities and open spaces, and neighborhood character. The source for the population and housing data is the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. The inventory of community facilities is based on Community District Needs (1997) for Manhattan’s Community Boards, the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Property Lists (dated November 4, 1996), supplementary information provided by the various Community Boards within the study area, and the informa- tion gathered for the analysis of land use, zoning, and public policy in Chapter 3. The assessment of neighborhood character is based on information gathered for other chapters of this document, particularly including the analyses of land use (Chapter 3) and visual and aesthetic considerations (Chapter 6). After assessing the existing conditions in the study area, the expected changes in the future are considered, based on information compiled in Chapter 3. Then, each alternative’s effects on population and housing, community facilities and open spaces, and neighborhood character are evaluated. This chapter assesses the potential impacts that may result during operation of each project al- ternative. Impacts on social conditions during construction are documented in Chapter 15, “Con- struction and Construction Impacts.” B. EXISTING CONDITIONS OVERVIEW OF STUDY AREA POPULATION AND HOUSING As described in Chapter 3 (“Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy”), much of the study area is residential. In fact, the MESA study area is home to 45 percent of Manhattan’s total population (see Table 4-1). The portion of the study area with the greatest number of residents is the Upper East Side (with more than 30 percent of the study area’s population and nearly 14 percent of Manhattan’s total population), followed closely by the Lower East Side (27.7 percent of the study area’s population) and then East Midtown. Although East Harlem is also predominantly 4-1 Manhattan East Side Transit Alternatives MIS/DEIS Table 4-1 Study Area Population 1980-1990 1990 1990 Percent Percent of Percent of Zone 1970 1980 1990 Change Study Area Manhattan Lower Manhattan 10,445 13,725 23,631 72.2% 3.5% 1.6% Lower East Side 200,442 177,207 186,176 5.1 27.7 12.5 East Midtown 133,253 141,950 150,140 5.8 22.4 10.1 Upper East Side 199,280 197,343 202,690 2.7 30.2 13.6 East Harlem 154,751 112,915 108,468 -3.9 16.2 7.3 Study Area Total 698,171 643,140 671,105 4.4 100.0 45.1 Manhattan Total 1,539,233 1,428,285 1,487,536 4.4 -- -- Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1970, 1980, 1990. residential, it is less populated than those three zones. Table 4-1 shows the population in each of the study area zones. More detailed information on selected population characteristics is pro- vided in Table 4-2 and information on the study area’s labor force is provided in Table 4-3. Within the study area are a full range of income levels. The areas with the highest median annu- al household income are in the Upper East Side and East Midtown zones (as well as in Battery Park City), while those with the lowest median incomes are the Lower East Side (with a median household income at 56 percent of the study area’s median household income) and East Harlem (at 36 percent). More than 27 percent of the households on the Lower East Side and 39 percent of the households in East Harlem are living below the poverty level, compared with 18 percent for the study area as a whole. In 1990, minority groups constituted 35 percent of the study area’s population. Most of the study area’s minority residents live on the Lower East Side and in East Harlem—some 54 percent of the residents of the Lower East Side and 78 percent of those in East Harlem are minority resi- dents. Many of the minority residents on the Lower East Side (as well as in the northern part of Lower Manhattan) are Asian people living in Chinatown: in both the Lower Manhattan and Lower East Side zones, approximately 30 percent of the total population is Asian. In addition, 30 percent of the population of the Lower East Side is Hispanic and 10 percent is African- American. In East Harlem, the large proportion of residents are African-American and/or Hispanic: a total of 49 percent of this zone’s residents are African-American and more than half (52 percent) are Hispanic. (Hispanic is an ethnic group that can include members of any race, such as Caucasian or African-American). The study area includes a labor force of more than 391,000 people, of whom 93.4 percent (365,528) were employed in 1990. The employed labor force is concentrated in the same zones and neighborhoods as the population: on the Lower East Side (with 23.7 percent of the study area’s employed labor force), in East Midtown (with 27.3 percent), and on the Upper East Side (with 36.2 percent of the study area’s employed labor force). 4-2 Table 4-2 1990 Population Selected Characteristics of the Study Area Population Economic Profile Population Race and Ethnicity (Percentage) Median Below Percent Percent Household Annual Poverty Change, Age 65 Size Household Level Zone Total 1980-1990 White Black Asian Hispanic* and Over (Persons) Income (Percent)** Lower Manhattan 23,631 72.2% 58.9% 7.9% 30.6% 6.9% 12.4% 1.93 $49,554 13.4% Financial District 2,326 82.3 69.7 17.4 10.5 12.2 12.8 1.67 $50,172 23.0 Tribeca/Civic Center 15,731 26.4 49.5 8.1 39.1 7.3 2.1 2.07 $46,755 15.7 Battery Park City 5,574 100.0 80.6 3.5 14.9 3.6 2.7 1.65 $72,489 3.9 Lower East Side 186,176 5.1 45.7 10.4 28.7 29.4 13.2 2.28 $23,616 27.3 Lower East Side/Chinatown 106,711 6.9 30.9 10.1 44.3 30.2 15.3 2.70 $17,780 28.6 East Village 79,465 2.7 65.6 10.7 7.6 28.4 10.4 1.88 $29,154 25.4 4-3 East Midtown 150,140 5.8 85.8 4.9 7.6 6.6 15.7 1.56 $47,926 8.1 Lower Fifth 45,666 -0.8 85.7 4.9 7.9 5.6 19.2 1.67 $47,660 5.8 Midtown South/Medical Ctr. 41,065 14.4 80.8 8.6 7.3 10.5 10.2 1.52 $39,160 14.2 Murray Hill 13,845 4.2 90.2 2.1 6.7 4.7 14.3 1.42 $48,398 4.9 Grand Central/UN 23,416 23.2 84.8 3.8 10.7 5.2 14.5 1.52 $53,088 7.0 East Midtown 26,148 -5.7 92.3 1.7 5.2 4.6 20.5 1.53 $56,255 5.7 Upper East Side 202,690 2.7 92.4 2.4 4.0 5.2 15.4 1.68 $59,763 5.4 Upper East Side/Medical Ctr. 88,772 -1.7 93.0 1.7 4.3 4.5 18.1 1.61 $60,633 5.0 Carnegie Hill/Yorkville 113,918 6.4 91.9 2.9 3.8 5.7 13.2 1.75 $59,030 5.6 East Harlem 108,468 -3.9 21.8 48.6 1.7 52.3 11.6 2.64 $15,490 39.4 Southern East Harlem 60,708 -3.7 27.2 40.8 2.7 57.0 11.8 2.61 $17,238 36.6 Northern East Harlem 47,760 -4.2 14.9 58.6 0.5 46.3 11.5 2.67 $13,231 43.0 Study Area 671,105 4.4 65.4 12.8 12.2 19.9 14.1 1.91 $42,473 17.8 Manhattan 1,487,536 4.1 58.3 22.0 7.4 26.0 13.3 1.99 $32,262 20.5 Notes: * An ethnic group that can include members of all different racial categories, including African-American and Caucasian residents. ** Percent of persons with incomes below the established poverty level; poverty level varies depending on household size. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1980 and 1990. Table 4-3 1990 Labor Force and Journey-to-Work Selected Characteristics of the Study Area Journey to Work Characteristics Labor Force (Percentages) Percent of Employed as Labor Percent of Total Labor Employed Force Study Area Subway/ Autos & Zone Force Labor Force Employed Employed Railroad Bus Taxis Walk Other Lower Manhattan 14,457 13,673 94.5% 3.7% 34.4% 2.5% 14.7% 40.5% 7.9% Financial District 1,615 1,379 85.4 0.4 42.6 2.4 7.9 38.2 8.0 Tribeca/Civic Center 8,315 7,894 94.9 2.2 32.2 2.7 14.3 40.2 10.6 Battery Park City 4,527 4,400 97.2 1.2 36.8 2.2 17.5 40.5 3.0 Lower East Side 95,333 86,515 90.7 23.7 36.2 12.4 12.9 32.3 6.2 Lower East Side/Chinatown 49,067 44,481 90.6 12.2 31.5 9.2 14.0 40.9 4.4 4-4 East Village 46,266 42,034 90.8 11.5 40.9 15.7 11.8 23.6 8.1 East Midtown 104,394 99,693 95.4 27.3 21.4 18.0 15.6 38.0 7.0 Lower Fifth 30,427 29,200 95.9 8.0 24.3 27.0 15.3 26.4 7.0 Midtown South/Medical Ctr.