“The negatives of New York life are worse,” said Seth Pinsky, chief executive of the 92nd Street Y, a longtime cultural destination on the Upper East Side.
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New York has suffered deeper job losses as a share of its work force than any other big American city....
Boarded-up storefronts and for-lease signs dot many neighborhoods. Empty sidewalks in Midtown Manhattan make it feel like a weekend in midweek. Subway ridership on weekdays is less than half the level of two years ago.
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The city’s economic plight stems largely from its heavy reliance on office workers, business travelers, tourists and the service businesses catering to all of them. All eyes are on September, when many companies aim to bring their workers back to the office and Broadway fully reopens...
The shift toward remote work endangers thousands of businesses that serve commuters who are likely to come into the office less frequently than before the pandemic, if at all. By the end of September, the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, predicts that only 62 percent of office workers will return, mostly three days a week.
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...hundreds of small businesses, which before the pandemic employed about half of the city’s work force, didn’t survive.
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Even if just 10 percent of Manhattan office workers begin working remotely most of the time, that translates into more than 100,000 people a day not picking up a coffee and bagel on their way to work or a drink afterward.
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One crucial factor in the city’s economic trajectory, civic and business leaders say, is addressing safety concerns. Violent crime has risen since the pandemic hit...
“Crime is going up and the city is dirtier,” added Mr.[Seth] Pinsky, who served as president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation under former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
🎼 I’m leaving today.🎵
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...worries about crime are frequently cited by workers who have returned. “There are questions from employees about safety in the city and increased concern,” said Jonathan Gray, president of the financial behemoth Blackstone.
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“I expect a lot of people will return, but not all of them,” he [James Parrott, an economist with the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School] said. “We might lose some neighborhood businesses as a result.”
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Also weighing on the city’s outlook is the decline in visits by tourists, who are venturing back in dribbles, not in droves.
In 2019, New York welcomed over 66 million out-of-towners, and they spent more than $45 billion in hotels, restaurants, shops and theaters. City officials expect that it will take years to draw so many visitors again...
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Employment in hotels and restaurants is about 150,000 lower than it was before the pandemic, while the number of jobs in the performing arts is down about 40,000.
...many residents fled the city last year...
🎼 Don’t want to be a part of it,
New York, New York! 🎵
