By:  Jared Evan

According to a recent survey conducted by the University of Toronto, foot traffic in New York City’s business districts remains 33% lower than pre-pandemic levels, making it one of the slowest cities in the country to recover. The study assessed the number of visitors, including shoppers, tourists, residents, and workers in the downtown or business/tourist districts of major cities in the United States and Canada, NY Post summarized.

In New York City, Lower Manhattan, including the Wall Street financial district, and Midtown, featuring Times Square, were categorized as the “downtown” district for the study. Researchers tracked foot traffic through mobile phone data, comparing the period from March to mid-June in 2023 to the same timeframe in 2019.

New York City’s recovery rate of 66% ranked 54th out of 66 cities surveyed, indicating a slow recovery in comparison to other cities. In contrast, Las Vegas topped the list with 103% of pre-pandemic foot traffic, being the only city to exceed its pre-pandemic levels.

The study suggested that the shift to remote work has significantly contributed to the decline in foot traffic in New York City’s business districts. It should be noted that Hudson Yards was excluded from the analysis because it is not traditionally considered part of Midtown.

While some cities like Miami, Nashville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Diego have shown a substantial recovery in foot traffic, there are other cities, including Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, and San Francisco, that are struggling to regain their pre-pandemic levels.

The Partnership for the City Of New York, a prominent business advocacy group, questioned the accuracy of the University of Toronto’s data. They cited more recent reports indicating a stronger recovery in Manhattan’s commerce and tourism districts. They noted that pedestrian foot traffic in Times Square has reached 80% of its pre-pandemic levels, with a monthly foot traffic of 75% in Downtown Brooklyn in June 2023.

Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership, emphasized that the data does not consider the increase in foot traffic in areas where office employees now work and shop. She also pointed out positive indicators, such as Broadway sales and attendance at 85% and 81% of pre-pandemic levels, respectively, during the last week of October.

Wylde highlighted other promising data, including record-breaking passenger numbers at regional airports in August and the opening of 192 new businesses in Times Square in October, surpassing the 179 businesses that closed during the pandemic. This data suggests that while New York City faces challenges in its business districts, it has also demonstrated resilience and potential for recovery.

“You have inflation limiting tourists but this is not the main cause, the chaotic feel of this city which was achieved via the radical far left destroyers of humanity, who actually want things to collapse, every single member of the Democrat socialists wants to see the city collapse, they want to see everything collapse to usher in the New World order of global communism, so they legislate to destroy, the only way to save the city is to remove every single Democrat socialist from power”, a libertarian political analyst told TJV.