NEW YORK, March 14 (UPI) -- For the first time since before 1950, more people are moving to New York City than are moving out, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday.
In a news conference, Bloomberg said the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicated the Big ' population has hit a record high of 8,336,697.
"The city's population increased by 161,564 since 2010 -- about 2 percent in two years," Bloomberg told reporters. "The increase is fueled by a continuing increase in people moving to the city and a decline in the number of people leaving the city, as well as the continued growth in the surplus of births over deaths due to life expectancy in the city reaching new record highs."
In 2000, the population of New York City was 8,008,288 and it rose to 8,175,133 by 2010. Since 2010, the city's population increased by 161,564. Since 2000, the city's population grew -- 330,000 -- by more than the entire city of Buffalo, N.Y.
In Brooklyn the population grew by 2.4 percent or 60,900 people; Manhattan grew 2.1 percent or 33,200 people; Queens grew by 1.9 percent or 42,000 people; the Bronx increased by 1.7 percent or 23,400 people; and Staten Island grew by 0.4 percent or 2,000 people.
"We have record low crime, record high tourism, record high life expectancy, record high graduation rates, record job growth and more -- but there's no better indication of the strength of our city than a record high population and a net population influx," Bloomberg said. "People are voting with their feet."
