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 predicts “at 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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