The New York State Comptroller's Office released a report on Saturday stating that poverty rates in New York have surpassed the national average.

The report specifically points to the Bronx as having a poverty rate higher than the statewide average.

"Many of my students and their families were dealing with food insecurity to an unprecedented degree," said former middle school teacher Dan Zauderer.

He left his teaching job and founded Grassroots Grocery which supplies food in parts of the Bronx and Harlem through seven different community refrigerators. 

Zauderer said he made the decision to start Grassroots Grocery after learning that his students and their families were skipping meals because they couldn't afford to eat.

The report defines poverty as when an individual or household doesn't have the financial resources to meet basic needs like food, clothing, shelter and access to a minimum standard of living.  

According to the report, almost 13.9% of New Yorkers lived below the poverty threshold in 2021, compared to 12.8% of all Americans.

The comptroller says that in the Bronx, the number was 24.4%.