I live a dozen miles west of Manhattan, and few people travel there at all anymore (many of the workers hadn’t even returned to the NYC offices yet, and with this mandate I suspect many never will). The city has been bleeding jobs for decades, and this is probably the last nail in the coffin of the financial sector there. After 9/11 many of those companies had to have backup sites x miles away from NYC and rather than maintain two sites, many just moved most of the jobs out and kept a PO box in NYC.
When libs were pushing for a third tunnel connecting NYC to NJ for several years, opponents pointed out that the number of commuters had fallen so much that it was unnecessary. Proponents were reduced to pushing for the tunnel SO PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO SEE A BROADWAY SHOW COULD DO SO MORE EASILY. This conversation was re-started recently, EVEN WHILE BROADWAY IS BASICALLY CLOSED.
We had commuters who went from PA to NYC every day before the shutdown. Trans-Bridge Bus Co. had a thriving business going back & forth to NY. I don’t care if I ever step foot in NYC again. Life is pleasant & safe out here in the country. We have a corner store, a gas station, a pizza place & ice cream restaurant.