NYC Health Department Reveals Boro Park to Have Highest Birthrate in the City

By Yehudit Garmaise

   The New York City Health Department released today vital statistics from 2018, revealing that Boro Park had the highest birthrate in the city.

   For every 1,000 residents of Boro Park, the neighborhood reported 25 births. The neighborhood with the lowest birthrate in the city was Bayside, Queens, a predominantly white, upscale area that reported just five births per 1,000 residents.

   In its 2018 Summary of Vital Statistic, which provide an overview of birth and death events in New York City, the Health Department also found that, in the last 10 years, life expectancy in the city has increased for all races and ethnic groups to an average of 81.3 years.

     “In the last decade, we’ve made some great strides in improving health outcomes for New Yorkers,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi. “Nevertheless, we must continue to address disparities and reach greater racial, ethnic and neighborhood equity in those outcomes. Racism is a public health crisis—we have seen its pernicious effects during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it shows in this data too.” 

    The vital data from 2018 reveal many improvements in New Yorkers’ health, the statistics reveals inequities as well.

    For instance, people living in high-poverty neighborhoods showed a premature death rate that was 2.4 times as high as people living in low-poverty neighborhoods, which reveals a slight increase from 2017.

    Black New Yorkers still had the shortest life expectancy, at 77.2 years, while Hispanics tend to live 82.4 years, and non-Hispanic whites live 81.3 years on average. 

    The general infant mortality rate reached a new low of 3.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018, which showed a 9.3% decrease from 2017.

   The infant mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black New Yorkers, however, was revealed to be 3.4 times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic white New Yorkers. 

   The Health Department aims to lower the premature mortality rate by 25% by 2040.