A report issued by New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson revealed that the rising unemployment rate in New York took its biggest toll on the Black community.

Black unemployment has risen four times as fast as it has among the rest of New Yorkers in the first quarter of 2009, according to Thompson's report. By April 1 of this year, there were 80,000 more unemployed Blacks than whites. "The recession is exacting a devastating toll on New Yorkers," said Thompson. "Economic downturns come and go, but leave behind a trail of human suffering." The unemployment rate for Blacks in New York now stands at 14.7 percent. There are close to 1.5 million more white residents in New York City than Blacks.

"It's those that struggle to get by that need the most assistance," said Thompson.

According to Thompson's report, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Management and Budget projects a loss of 172,000 payroll jobs in 2009 and another 129,000 in 2010. The finance division of the City Council projects a 260,000 peak-to-trough loss in private payroll jobs. The Independent Budget Office predicts a total loss of 268,000 non-farm jobs.

Thompson's report also says that since December of 2007, construction, manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and retail trade industries have accounted for close to two-thirds of the national job decline. While New York is not highly concentrated in those industries, many of those jobs in the city were occupied by Black and brown people. The city's jobless rate could hit 9.5 percent by the beginning of next year.

The numbers are so dire, the Rev. Al Sharpton, along with Public Advocate Candidates Bill DeBlasio and Eric Gioia, stood on the steps of City Hall Monday to address the issue.

"We suffered a job loss because of the crash of Wall Street, but Wall Street, in my judgment, did not have the proper proportion of Blacks employed in the first place," said Sharpton. "We cannot continue to act as if we are a society that is beyond racial challenges." He continued, "It is easy for those that are not the victims of bias to say we're in a post-racial generation. It's a different story if you're Black and between the ages of 25 and 54 and you're unemployed and more and more unlikely to get a job."

"This is not just unemployment you see during bad times," said DeBlasio. "This is a devastating level of unemployment, and unfortunately, it could only get worse considering what the government isn't doing. I don't think we're using our stimulus funding quickly enough or effectively enough."

"We are increasingly becoming a two-tiered city," said Gioia. "One city for the wealthy and well-connected, and another city for all the rest of us. [It's] a city with different financial institutions, different schools and different access to opportunity."

Gioia also said that 281,000 New Yorkers live in a zip code without a single bank. "That's a pretty surprising statistic for many New Yorkers who live in neighborhoods where you walk out the door and all you see are banks." He concluded, "When the only financial institution in your life is a check cashing place, well, good luck trying to reach the middle class. And it doesn't just stop with banks. It then goes to schools. It then goes to places to shop."

"This is a crisis in the Black community and we need a crisis response," said Sharpton. "The numbers speak for themselves and the numbers are devastating."