Population of New York City

After falling sharply in the 1970s, the population of New York City rebounded to reach an all-time high in 2016. Since then, the population has started to decline again.
Population is for all five boroughs, even if they hadn't merged with New York yet
Sources: Wikipedia, Census estimates
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Level 94
Jul 5, 2018
What happened in the 1970's??
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Level 60
Jul 5, 2018
There was a fluctuation in the size of the population.
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Level 58
Jul 5, 2018
Near bankruptcy
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Level 81
Jul 5, 2018
Crime. Rich people leaving. Economics, and other reasons. It happened to a lot of cities in the US between 1970-1980.
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Level 34
Aug 22, 2018
WTF?! That doesn't make sense. I thought that New York was one of the most stable places in the U.S.A.
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Level 74
Jan 20, 2019
Relative to the rest of the country, it is.
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Level ∞
Aug 22, 2019
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Level 78
Sep 28, 2019
If you watch any of these movies, the notion of stability is pretty much shattered: "The French Connection" (1971), "Klute" (1971), "Shaft" (1971), "The Panic in Needle Park" (1971), "Serpico" (1973), "Mean Streets" (1973), "Death Wish" (1974), "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Saturday Night Fever" (1977, yeah even that one), "The Warriors" (1979).
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Level 82
Sep 28, 2019
It wasn't any of those things. It was people moving to the suburbs.
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Level 85
Dec 11, 2020
Why were they moving?
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Level ∞
Jun 28, 2021
Crime must have played at least some part. The murder rate was sky high in the 1960s and 1970s. If nothing else, a thousand murders per year reduces the population by a thousand per year.
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Level 29
Jul 13, 2023
What happened in 1700?

this is a joke smh

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Level 73
Jul 5, 2018
Even in 2000 the population had gone passed the population in 1970
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Level 60
Sep 28, 2019
Does anyone remember the 80s in New York? It was severely mismanaged as well. Lots of corruption, crime. they couldn't afford to keep the mental hospitals open, so they just released mentally ill people into the streets with no support. no job, no money, no housing. Homelessness skyrocketed. And do none of you remember the East River catching on fire? The New York that we know now is very different from 40 years ago. Regardless of how you feel about individual mayors that have governed since 1990, Dinkins, Guiliani, Bloomberg and DiBlasio have managed it much better than Koch did.
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Level 82
Sep 28, 2019
This was the pattern with pretty much all US cities and many major cities around the world. Starting with industrialization people flooded in to them from the countryside to get work. This led to overcrowding, crime, pollution, and problems with management. After World War 2 many people started moving out in to the suburbs - which was something new. Because people had cars now they could live in nicer, cleaner, semi-planned communities with more space and drive to their jobs in the cities. The flight of the middle class to the suburbs sent the condition in cities spiraling downward, as this meant lower tax revenues, and greater concentration of poverty and crime. A couple decades went by and then it started to become trendy to try and rejuvenate these urban centers. Neighborhoods were gentrified. Management got better. Environmental regulations helped lower pollution levels. Public safety and public transit improved. People started moving back.
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Level 82
Sep 28, 2019
Some exception to this pattern in the US for major cities whose major industries (steel, automobiles) moved to other areas in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Their decline lasted longer.
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Level 73
Sep 28, 2019
*cough* Detroit *cough*
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Level 62
Sep 12, 2020
Yup. I certainly noticed that.
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Level 68
Nov 17, 2020
LOL. NYC was the most populated city in the U.S. in 1790 and had less than 50,000 people!
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Level 23
Mar 21, 2021
@JackQuizzer It had 49,401 in Fact!
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Level 59
Feb 1, 2023
Is this the first chart on JetPunk? I wish we could see all of the charts rather than just recent charts.