New York City briefs

One in 25 New Yorkers is a millionaire

We're in the money.

One in 25 New Yorkers is a millionaire, according to an analysis performed by the consulting firm WealthInsight and Spear's, a magazine that caters to the "ultra high net worth community."

NYC was the only American metropolis to crack the top 17 millionaire-dense cities, with 4.63 percent of the population judged to have a personal worth running seven figures or more.

Ranked fourth in fat cat prevalence, the Big Apple follows Monaco -- where a stunning 29.21 percent of the population are millionaires -- Zurich (27.34 percent) and Geneva (17.92 percent).

WealthInsight defined millionaires as individuals with net assets of more than $1 million, excluding their primary residence, Spear's said. That means that long-rooted New Yorkers who have recently found themselves "real estate rich" with homes now worth small fortunes but without portfolios to match were not even counted.

"There are a lot of genuinely rich people in New York," who have both brought their fortunes here and made them here, said Philip Kasinitz, a sociology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Most of the wealth is Wall Street-generated, he said.

The only other American cities on the list were Houston (No. 18, with 2.09 percent millionaires) and San Francisco (2.07 percent).

School guard charged in incident with child

A school safety agent was charged with attempted assault after she allegedly tried to burn a child inside her Brooklyn home early yesterday, police said.

Roniece Watson, 33, allegedly took a lighter to the right knee and ankle of the child, police said.

She was arrested just before 3 a.m. and also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

It was not immediately clear what her relationship to the child was. UFT seeks to join suit on job protection

The United Federation of Teachers wants to become a defendant in a New York lawsuit challenging teacher job protections.

The UFT filed a motion yesterday seeking to intervene in the lawsuit that claims teacher tenure rules violate children's right to a good education.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month on Staten Island by leaders of the New York City Parents Union. It names city and state education officials as defendants.

NYC is No. 1 for most

unhappy citizens

The stereotype of the cynical New Yorker just may have some truth to it. A report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Research ranks New York City as the nation's most unhappy city.

The report is based on a life satisfaction study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in which participants were asked to answer the question, "In general how satisfied are you with your life?"

North Lafayette, Louisiana, meanwhile, was rated the happiest U.S. city and was one of five Louisiana cities to make the list of top 10 happiest.

New Yorkers however, don't necessarily agree with the data.

"I don't think New Yorkers are unhappy," said William Porter, 45, of the Bronx. "New York is New York. People love it, people love to come here. It's the greatest city in the world."

"I am happy," said Allam McKinny, 59, a dispatcher and lifelong New Yorker from Flatbush, Brooklyn. "Of course you are going to find people who are unhappy, but I love New York. I have been here my whole life."

For some it's all about perspective. Cleveland Spicer Jr. is 52 and unemployed. He was forced to move from New Jersey to Brooklyn after superstorm Sandy.

Spicer pointed out that New Yorkers live in a city that is free from war and other atrocities that many others in the world face every day. "You gotta be happy; I can't complain."

Compiled with wire

service reports