Poor English editor in New York (5)
I believe the answer is:
needy
'poor' is the definition.
(I know that needy is a type of poor)
'english editor in new york' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'editor' becomes 'ed' (abbreviation).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'new york' becomes 'ny'.
'e'+'ed'='eed'
'eed' going into 'ny' is 'NEEDY'.
(Other definitions for needy that I've seen before include "Poor; indigent" , "Disadvantaged" , "Craving attention" , "penniless" , "Impecunious" .)