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NYC Workers Won’t Go Into the Office Due to Crime, Not COVID

NYC Workers Won’t Go Into the Office Due to Crime, Not COVID

“No matter what employers do to encourage [their employees to return to the office], … if we can’t solve the public safety problem.”

Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit group for local business leaders, discovered that people want to work from home due to the growing crime rate, not COVID. From The New York Post:

Under 40% of Manhattan office workers currently go to their desks on an average week day, according to Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit group representing local business leaders.

The head of the group, Kathryn Wylde, in an appearance on WABC aired Sunday, assigned blame for the low office attendance to “the public safety problem” and concerns surrounding homelessness, rather than the city’s increasing COVID-19 positivity rates.

“When we asked employers what’s the factor that would be most effective in bringing people back to the office, they said, ‘Reduce the presence of the homeless and mentally ill individuals, and expand police presence on the streets and subways,’” Wylde told “The Cats Roundtable” host John Catsimatidis.

“There’s no mystery here. No matter what employers do to encourage [their employees to return to the office], … if we can’t solve the public safety problem,” she explained. “If we can’t do that, we are going to see a long-term decline in the presence of folks who are willing to take the subway and come back to the office.”

About 83% of those in real estate attend work in person. The number has gone up since November when only 28% of those in Manhattan went to the office.

However, City Hall predictsat least 20 percent of the five boroughs’ office space will remain empty through at least 2026.”

Mayor Eric Adams still emphasizes the pandemic as the reason why people won’t go back to the office in his statement about the budget. He wants people to go back to work so the city can recover:

And Mayor Eric Adams told The Post’s Editorial Board on Wednesday that ongoing resistance from employees to returning to working in Manhattan’s massive office towers will complicate the city’s rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We know post-COVID we’re going to be dealing with a different universe, may go to a four day work week for some,” Adams told the paper.

“It is a real concern,” he added. “We’re going to have to get to the table with all of our business leaders, our economists — and really, we can’t stumble into post-COVID.”

The Democrats cannot blame guns since gun violence has fallen in the city. The crime rate went up 34.2% in April from “felony assaults, robberies, burglaries and theft.”

Crime has spiked 84% in the East and West villages, one of the popular arts and culture hubs in Manhattan:

The Sixth Precinct, which patrols the West Village, saw an 84 percent spike in major crime rates when compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers — the highest increase among Manhattan’s 22 precincts and nearly two times the citywide jump of 44 percent — NYPD data shows. The Ninth Precinct, which serves the East Village, the Bowery and NoHo, is also seeing an uptick in property thefts and violent attacks with the total major crime rate jumping 54 percent so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021, police data shows.

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Comments

I guess their new commie mayor didn’t do anything about the crime issues after all, Maybe he should give Rudy a call for some pointers.

It’s circular problem. The city workers overwhelmingly voted democrat. Now they have a democrat mayor who won’t enforce the law and so there is a crime problem. As a result of the crime problem the city workers don’t want to work. Next time they vote they will vote democrat again and the next democrat mayor will not solve the crime problem. And so the city workers……..

    Peabody in reply to Peabody. | May 10, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    It’s also a case of you cannot have your cake and eat it too—–i.e., you cannot kiss the criminals asses and have a crime free city at the same time

    mbecker908 in reply to Peabody. | May 10, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    Exactly. And that’s why I believe that crime – especially violent crime – needs to at least triple from today and it absolutely needs to include the people who drive the politics – the rich ones.

    There’s more money to be made in a home invasion of a $10MM condo than knocking off granny for her social security check. Come on bad guys, get with the program.

      txvet2 in reply to mbecker908. | May 10, 2022 at 6:39 pm

      Also more risk. Besides, rich people don’t generally leave a lot of loose cash lying around, and fencing stuff is inconvenient. Older and poorer people are less likely to use banks and less likely to have security alarms, cameras, guards, etc., and they’re right there in the neighborhood. No transportation costs.

    TheOldZombie in reply to Peabody. | May 11, 2022 at 12:53 am

    It drives me crazy that people can’t see this and they still vote for these leftists. Why can’t people see that until they vote for people who will actually do something that nothing will get better?

2smartforlibs | May 10, 2022 at 3:31 pm

this is what they voted for.

    Peabody in reply to 2smartforlibs. | May 10, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    1. This time

    2. Last time

    3. And next time

    4. And the time after that

    5. Ad infinitum

      Subotai Bahadur in reply to Peabody. | May 10, 2022 at 4:17 pm

      New York City is arguably a hostile foreign country with very little in common with America. There is nothing that we can do to help them, and there is no aid that would really solve their problem that they will accept. The best we can do is isolate them as much as possible and do not fund their activities.

      Subotai Bahadur

    Milhouse in reply to 2smartforlibs. | May 10, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    No, it isn’t. People voted for Adams because they thought he was against crime. And he is, at least in the sense that he isn’t positively for crime, as our last mayor was. But his anti-crime warrior persona was mostly invented for the occasion, as anyone who had been following his career for years understood.

    Still, there was no viable Republican candidate, so the question was which Democrat to choose, and among about eight serious candidates there were only three who weren’t outright insane, and Adams seemed to many like the most reasonable one.

    I put Yang ahead of Adams on my ballot, reasoning that although they were both mostly phonies, Yang was more likely to bear in mind who is doing all the anti-Asian crime, and therefore work harder to combat crime, whereas Adams was “woke” before that was even a thing, he was BLM before BLM, so he would have that perspective working against his anti-crime sentiments.

      Peabody in reply to Milhouse. | May 10, 2022 at 4:48 pm

      “…there was no viable Republican candidate.”

      Even if there had been, the city workers would still have voted Democrat. And if the Republican won and went on to reduce crime, city workers would’ve enjoyed lower crime without having voted for it.

      Peabody in reply to Milhouse. | May 10, 2022 at 4:56 pm

      In the year 2525, if man is still alive
      If woman can survive, they may find
      In the year 3535
      NYC will get another Republican mayor
      To reduce crime by 10 or 5

        Whitewall in reply to Peabody. | May 10, 2022 at 9:56 pm

        Been a while since I heard that song.

          Peabody in reply to Whitewall. | May 11, 2022 at 10:29 am

          When the moon is in the Seventh House
          And Jupiter aligns with Mars
          Then peace will guide the planets
          And love will steer the stars
          This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

How far into anarchy do they REALLY want to fall?
The intended result won’t be what the purge-minded left is wishing for.

The Gentle Grizzly | May 10, 2022 at 3:44 pm

Off-topic. For those following along at home I’m being released from the hospital just as soon as one of my medical supplies is here. My music teacher is driving me home, and I’m going to fall right into bed. They eliminated quite a few things but there’s still some cultures running in the lab. Because my fever has been stabilized down to a reasonable level and sometimes even normal, they figure I’m far better off in my own bed than this cramped piece of junk that I’m in here.

Chicago has the same problem.

henrybowman | May 10, 2022 at 4:38 pm

“The Democrats cannot blame guns since gun violence has fallen in the city.”
Oh shit, now they’re in trouble. They’re going to have to use their brains to come up with an entirely new excuse, and that never ends well.

A 20% decline in occupancy for office space isn’t confined to real estate. The decrease in workers present translates into less traffic at eateries and bodega. That decline in sales volume impacts whether these remaining small businesses can stay open or they relocate to greener pastures or retire. National chains like Walgreens impacted as well. These patterns can become self reinforcing into a continuous downward spiral.

healthguyfsu | May 10, 2022 at 7:01 pm

Most people that are offered telework aren’t going to want to give that up unless forced to do so. It’s very convenient and economical, even if it is less healthy for society.

You can buy a home much cheaper in PA and telework in NYC for an inflated salary without the associated costs. Plus, you don’t have to pay for parking and/or transportation to/from work (which is a considerable cost in NYC and even dangerous if you use the subway). Who wouldn’t take that deal?