New York City Post-Pandemic Lockdown
"Everything that made New York so distinctively New York has gone; its shopping, its Broadway theatres, its all-night cafes and late-night bars."Fashion buyer, Manhattanite Natasha Field"[The location is no longer workable as a luxury destination [Fifth Avenue] and the situation is unlikely to change] even in a post-pandemic New York City, should such a day arrive.""In the current social and economic climate, filled with COVID-19 related restrictions, social distancing measures, a lack of consumer confidence and a prevailing fear of patronizing in-person 'non-essential' luxury boutiques [Valentino's future has become untenable]."Valentino representatives, lease-releasing lawsuit
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Fifth Avenue is empty of
traffic as people remain at home to stop the spread of the Coronavirus
pandemic in New York City. Noam Galai | Getty Images |
"There's no reason to do business in New York. I can do the same volume in Florida in the same square feet as I would have in New York, with my expenses being much less."Michael Weinstein, chief executive, Ark Restaurants"We tried for a while at the beginning, unable to bring ourselves to leave the place we had dreamed of living [in] for so long.""But when was the last time I went to a club, concert, great restaurant? I asked myself. What is New York without any of those things? Not much, quite frankly.""I think the virus has just reframed people's relationship with the city. Maybe it will never be repaired, and that's not necessarily a bad thing."Tom Harper, 32 former New Yorker, Vermont
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Broadway theaters will remain closed until January 2021, if not longer, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Getty Images
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Fifth Avenue will never be the same again, and nor will Manhattan following one of the world's most disastrous global pandemic hits. The attraction of Millionaire's Row, symbolic of New York City's prosperity and global cachet has been eclipsed. Vacated elite brand names have left great yawning gaps in the sparkling presentation of shops like Victoria's Secret and Kate Spade, boarded up now alongside high-end Italian handbag maker Valentino and Barney's.
Businesses deemed to be non-essential were ordered closed in the March lockdown hoping to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and now that life has re-surfaced in the Big Apple many of those shuttered stores may never re-open, their intention to weather the storm defeated after five months, as a new, barren and unattractive landscape has taken the place of the former glittering, excitement-inducing one that may never return.
Tourists? Where are they? Wealthy residents to patronize the high-end stores? They appear to have vanished in a great rush to leave the city hosting a deadly virus for greener shores elsewhere. The city that played reluctant host to one of the nation's longest, strictest shutdowns no longer shines as a place to do business. Foot traffic at the famed stores in Manhattan has been reduced by 85 percent from a year earlier, and no one foresees appealing future prospects.
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Close to three thousand established businesses shuttered for good in the past four months and the century-old New York Daily News tabloid was forced to close its newsroom at Penn Plaza, the company saying the paper would continue publishing while evaluating "real estate needs". Indoor dining is not yet considered a wise choice in a city which has recorded over 32,000 deaths, impelling scores of restaurants to close and move out to Long Island shores in lock-step with former Manhattanites.
As for the office towers, they have seen fewer than 15 percent of white-collar workers returning to their offices and surveys suggest many will continue with the new protocol of working from home through to 2021. The Upper East Side has become a ghost town, many of its residents in financial distress no longer able to support steep costs associated with rentals and taxes. United Van Lines chief executive claims to have helped relocate hundreds out of the city to the Hamptons, Hudson Valley, Connecticut and Vermont in recent months.
The combined wealth in the city fell by $336 billion in the twelve months ending June 30, according to a report from New World Wealth and Webster Pacific. While revenues generated in other areas of the state recovered, tax collections in NYC dropped 46 percent in June leading municipal politicians to propose a wealth tax targeting the city's 100 billionaires, to help restore an enormous revenue shortfall.
Last month, Governor Andrew Cuomo who rejected imposing greater taxes on the ultra-wealthy for fear they would leave for good, issued a plea for them to return. "They are in their Hamptons homes, or Hudson Valley or Connecticut. I talk to them literally every day. I say 'when are you coming back? I'll buy you a drink. I'll cook'," he said.
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The Wall St. Bull is
seen standing on a nearly empty Broadway in the financial district, as
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in New York City,
New York, U.S Mike Segar | Reuters |
Labels: Closures, Deaths, Global Pandemic, Lockdown, New York City
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, September 15, 2020
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