[ti:Immigrants Seek Better Lives in New York City] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.43]this is the Economics Report. [00:05.93]For many years, [00:08.20]immigrants have sought better lives [00:10.67]for themselves in New York City. [00:13.97]Now, a new study says, [00:17.23]that immigrants also have helped the city's economy remain strong. [00:23.29]New York is in many ways a city of immigrants. [00:29.05]The Mayor's office says, [00:32.17]the group makes up more than 40 percent of New York's population. [00:37.58]Nisha Agarwal is the immigration commissioner for the city. [00:43.14]She says immigrants help drive the city. [00:47.24]"So we are an immigrant-rich city, [00:51.06]and immigrants are in our schools. [00:53.27]They are driving our economy at all levels and in all professions. [00:58.59]And we need to support that because it not only [01:01.99]benefits the families involved, [01:04.30]but it benefits the city as a whole," said Agarwal. [01:05.91]The Americas Society/Council of the Americas, or ASCOA [01:12.08]seeks to educate the public about issues affecting the Americans. [01:17.19]The group supported a recent study [01:20.95]that examines the part immigrants play in New York City's economy. [01:26.76]The study looked at immigration records [01:30.82]and neighborhood police reports between 1990 and 2010. [01:36.54]The report's author, Jacob Vigdor says [01:41.36]New York City's economy and the quality of life improved during that period. [01:46.96]He said there was a link between improvements [01:51.53]in aging neighborhoods and immigration. [01:54.89]"The immigrants go to these neighborhoods [01:56.95]because they are the only places they can afford, [01:58.80]and they stabilize those neighborhoods. [02:01.00]They reduce the vacancy rates. [02:02.85]They reduce the state of disrepair, [02:04.65]and these are the things that kind of lead to crime dropping," said Vigdor. [02:08.57]Robert Sampson is a social policy professor [02:13.10]at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [02:17.11]He says immigrants who take risks to come to America [02:21.93]are often less likely to take part in crime and more likely to work hard. [02:28.87]"So why would you come to this country? [02:31.82]Well, you want to work. [02:32.67]You want to get ahead. [02:33.52]You want to raise your family, [02:34.74]you want to build, essentially, a community," said Sampson. [02:37.14]Immigrant businesses also help to drive growth in New York. [02:42.50]Kate Brick works for ASCOA. [02:46.19]He says immigrants do work that others will not. [02:50.92]"Like in the agricultural sector, [02:53.17]the manufacturing sector [and] the service industry. [02:55.93]It runs the gamut. And at the same time, [02:57.78]immigrants coming to the US are extremely diverse. [03:00.24]In addition to people who are working in lower paying jobs, [03:03.60]you have some of the best minds in the world [03:05.15]that are here working in the tech industry, [03:06.86]and in engineering, in science, in the medical field," said Brick. [03:09.96]Jacob Vigdor says, all immigrants help support the economy [03:15.48]in some way by paying sales taxes and property taxes. [03:20.39]"You need to buy things, and, when you buy things, [03:24.25]you pay sales taxes. [03:26.39]You need to live someplace. [03:27.95]Whether you own a place or rent a place, [03:31.91]there are property taxes on that dwelling, [03:33.66]and property taxes and sales taxes are major sources of revenue [03:37.57]for any kind of municipal government," said Vigdor. [03:39.47]ASCOA hopes the reports will influence other U.S. cities [03:43.97]to welcome immigrants in ways that help everyone. [03:48.28]And that's the VOA Learning English Economics Report. [03:54.05]I'm Mario Ritter. [03:56.36]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com