Only a third of New York voters believe race relations in New York are good or excellent as views have changed little in the last year, according to an annual poll conducted by Siena College and released on Monday.
The poll, released on the day observing the Rev. Martin Luther King's birthday, found a combined 31% of New Yorkers think race relations are excellent or good, while a combined 64% say they are fair or or poor.
The split is identical to what Siena found in June of last year after protests against racial enquality and police brutality engulfed cities across the country. It is also down slight from Martin Luther King Day a year ago, the poll found.
The poll also found the Black Lives Matter movement has dropped in favorability since the spring protests, falling from a 66% favorability, 26% unfavorability to 56% favorability. Thirty-three percent of New Yorkers polled have an unfavorable view of the movement.
Meanwhile, 48% of New Yorkers believe the Black Lives Matter movement has had a positive on the country, while 32% do not. Thirteen percent believe it has had no real effect.
There is also a political split over Black Lives Matter: 77% of Democrats view the movement favorably; two-thirds believe it has had a positive impact on America. But Republican voters view the movement unfavorably by 62% to 27% and independent voters are more mixed, split between 44% favorable and 40% unfavorable, the poll found.
“The more things change, the more things stay the same? Despite all the events, headlines and protests, and despite the national conversation that has taken place over the last year about race in America, little has changed – good or bad – regarding New Yorkers’ views about race relations and discrimination in the state,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered law enforcement and local government officials to develop plans on the local level meant to improve policing. The plans are due by April 1 and their development is tied to the release of state aid for municipalities.
The poll of 804 registered voters was conducted from Jan. 10 to 13 and has a margin of error of 4.1%.