City's income inequality gap double the U.S. average, Liu says

The gap between the city's 1% and the rest of New Yorkers is more than double the national average, according to a new report released Monday.

City Comptroller John Liu's office found that the wealthiest residents account for about a third of the city's income. Nationally, that same income bracket represents only about 17% of the nation's income, Liu's report found.

"Income inequality can weaken or destabilize the local tax base [and] reinforce patterns of racial and economic segregation," Liu said in a statement.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg dismissed Liu's findings at a news conference, noting that those wealthy New Yorkers contribute to half the city's annual revenue.

123,442
New Yorker tax filers make $200K or more

3,497,930
Total population of New York tax filers

$103,918M
Amount of city's income the group making $200K or more acccounts for

$240,770M
Total city income