The city’s black middle-class population is receding, according to a study.
The report, prepared by the nonprofit Citizens Housing and Planning Council, showed that the black middle class declined 18%, as the black population dropped across the city by 5%.
Once solidly middle-class strongholds in Hollis and Jamaica, Queens; East Flatbush, Brooklyn; and Woodlawn, the Bronx, had significantly fewer middle- and upper-income black families in 2010 than they did in 2000, and significantly more low-income families, the study reported.
In Hollis, longtime residents said they had felt the change.
“All of our neighbors have left,” said Peyton Smith, 81, who’s lived on 205th St. since he bought the corner house at 109th Ave. in 1965 for $23,000.