In the recent New York Times article "In Chelsea, A Great Wealth Divide," reporter Mireya Navarro explores the rapid growth and gentrification of Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood where public housing developments stand across the street from multi-million dollar homes. The article cites data from Social Explorer in its illustrations.

She writes that the area has "undergone a dizzying economic transformation in the past two to three decades, with an influx of wealth affecting the residents of less means in both obvious and insidious ways. And that change shows no signs of slowing."

"Today’s Chelsea, the swath west of Avenue of the Americas between 14th and 34th Streets, could be the poster neighborhood for what Mayor Bill de Blasio calls the tale of two cities…Census and city figures show that the average household income in Chelsea, about $140,000, is almost five times the average for households in public housing in the area. The neighborhood now ranks among those in the city with the greatest income inequality, according to the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University, as the share of households in the highest income brackets — over $250,000 — has grown."

Click here to read the full article on area change, the effects of stark contrasts of wealth, political dynamics, the future of public housing and related issues.

Click here for Social Explorer's closeup on affordable housing in Stuyvesant Town, the US's largest housing development, in the wake of its latest sale.