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NYC's Income Gap Mapped With Music & Subway Stops
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 6, 2015
Modified Feb 6, 2015
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 6, 2015
Modified Feb 6, 2015
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New York City's expanding income gap is alarming, and it's easy to visualize when mapped out using the subway, the city's most all-encompassing circulatory system. But one artist took data-driven maps a step further, setting the stops along one train line to music documenting median income in the area.
Untapped Cities reported on the hit statistics single today, the work of one Brian Foo. Foo put a ride on the 2 train to music, letting the volume and number of instruments rise in wealthier areas and fall in poorer ones:
Aside from being somewhat reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens's 2009 love letter to the BQE, the track is a handy way to see the stark income disparity in sections of Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Manhattan, unsurprisingly, warrants the most boisterous music, with Manhattan below 14th Street offering the highest median income.
Things are much quieter in the Bronx, with the section between East 180th St and Bronx Park East proving the poorest—Brooklyn's a mixed bag, though the 2's southernmost stops are certainly less sonorous than more gentrified spots near Borough Hall and Clark Street.
Foo will be making 12 of these unique income inequality-related maps this year, releasing a new one each month on his website.
Tagged
2 train
brian foo
data driven dj
income gap
income inequality
subway
Rebecca Fishbein
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