Poverty in New York: metropolis of the inequality

New York, miles is the city of skyscrapers and shopping, and poverty. Alone, the 105,000 school children according to official statistics, homeless.

By Stefanie Dodt, ARD Studio New York

The New York subway rattles over the tracks, over the Manhattan bridge to Brooklyn. The gaze falls on the picture-book-New-York, as the morning sun facades illuminates the water of the East River and the glass of the skyscrapers.

Robert and his children not take note of it. A sleeps on his knees, another to the window leaning. You are on the way to school: three hours U-Bahn - from the homeless living home to school. Everyday. "To me, it hurts incredibly. Every day I think about what makes the most with the children. You are much too small to understand all this," says Robert.

two months Ago, the family lost their apartment. Robert finds since then, nothing Affordable, although the single father working full time. The children do not understand the background to the changes, but you feel their impact: lack of sleep, Hunger. "The way is long and we are often late. Then we miss the school Breakfast," says one of the children.

After school is a short time for a stopover at the Playground. The children's tree house, a private play for everyone. All the other visits, you just have to ring the bell. Unlike in the accommodation where visiting is prohibited.