On a personal basis, a family member and spouse just moved out of New York. He works in the theatre and there is not much work these days in the Big Apple. As they told me on the phone, the place is deader than a doornail. By the way, they also told me that you have to wait weeks to rent a moving van. I guess that a lot of people are leaving.
We learned that New York City is about to lay off 22,000 of its approximately 330,000 city employees, according to Forbes:
The Wall Street Journal reported that roughly 22,000 government workers need to be let go to close a $9 billion deficit that continues to grow.
The story goes on to say that there may be more because the deficit is getting bigger.
New York heavily relies upon its bustling commerce, entertainment and social activities to draw in and keep people. Without restaurants, concerts, museums, sporting events and people commuting into Manhattan from the other boroughs (New York City comprises of five boroughs), the city has quickly changed. Residents have fled the city.
As people ceased commuting into New York, worked remotely, businesses shut their doors and social activities have halted, revenues to companies have plummeted. As businesses of all sizes saw their profits evaporate, the city government received significantly less in tax collection.
Naturally, no one likes to see layoffs. After all, these are humans, not just numbers.
Mayor Bill De Blasio will blame the virus and naturally President Trump. He won’t blame himself or policies driving people out of New York for years.
It will be fun to watch how these liberal city council members deal with economic facts, the public sector unions, and the reality that the party is over.
