NEW YORK, NY December 28, 2007 —Last year Mayor Bloomberg annnounced a citywide initiative to find innovative ways to reduce chronic poverty. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports on what has been accomplished so far.

REPORTER: Three quarters of the 41 anti-poverty programs are up and running. One of the most successful was targeted to serve young people ages 16 to 24. 18 year-old John Floyd lives in a shelter with his family but says a paid internship turned around his life.

FLOYD: Basically I work for the Shirley Chisolm Daycare Center. I work with children right now. Challenges? The children they are very active but I learn how to work with children. I love children.

REPORTER:The latest statistics indicate 1 in 5 New Yorkers currently falls below the federal poverty line.

Another one of the Bloomberg Administration's newer anti-poverty inititiatives offers cash incentives to poor families who meet certain personal education and employment goals.