In a radio interview Friday with John Gambling on WABC-AM, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the federal Food Stamp Program was limited almost entirely to adults who worked and that "nobody [is] starving to death". Majority of food stamp recipients are actually children, seniors, and people with disabilities who are not currently working.

According to the most recent "Forbes 400" report, the number of billionaires in New York City increased from 28 to 45 over the last year, with their total net worth at approximately $60.4 billion. The 1.7 million residents living below the federal poverty line earned a total of approximately $3.45 Billion.

Anti-hunger advocates reacted with hope and criticism to the release of the report, "Increasing Opportunity and Reducing Poverty in New York City" on Monday by Mayor Bloomberg.

Gotbaum calls out to business leaders and policy makers at the City, State, and Federal levels, to help lift working families out of poverty, following the release of the most recent poverty statistics.

New York was the only state in which both poverty and overall income increased, further increasing New York’s high level of inequality of wealth.