The estimate of the income distribution of the Jewish population of New York City is based on the main on data from the Current Population Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census on the 1970 income distribution of the city's population. While the methodology used probably results in an underestimation of Jewish income and, therefore, an overestimate of the Jewish poor, the data describe with some reality the economic situation of the Jewish community. Some major findings are as follows: 140,300 families including 272,000 individuals, or 15.1 percent of the Jewish population of 1.8 million in the city are poor or near poor; 190,300 families including 423,000 individuals are between the near poverty level and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) moderate level of living--these equalling almost a quarter of the Jewish population and constitute the Jewish working class; 512,400 families including over one million individuals, about 60 percent of the Jewish population have incomes above the BLS moderate level including 343,700 families with incomes above the BLS higher standard of living. About half the Jewish poor and near poor are aged individuals or couples. About two fifths are three to five person families including female headed households, some headed by an aged or ill or disabled person and some by Hassidic Jews with limited earning capacity. (Author/JM)