‘We’re at War’: New York City Faces a Financial Abyss. The pandemic has crippled tourism, retail and the culture sector. The damage could last years, and layoffs, service cuts and added debt are all on the table.

New York Times ^ | September 28, 2020 | Dana Rubinstein

[karpov]

The unemployment rate in New York City is 16 percent, twice as high as the rest of the country. Personal income tax revenue is expected to drop by $2 billion this fiscal year. Only a third of hotel rooms are occupied, and apartment vacancies in Manhattan have hit a peak.

New York, more than any large city in the world, has been forced to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak’s dual paths of devastation: The virus has killed 24,000 people in the city and has sapped it of hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue.

And even as the city has contained the spread of the virus, it has been unable to exert control over its threat to the economy.

Numerous economic indicators suggest that New York City will face an extended financial crisis, the likes of which has not been seen since the 1970s.

The city has already slashed spending to make up for billions of dollars in lost tax revenue, but it may lose billions more.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo have repeatedly asked the Trump administration for help, but the president, a native New Yorker who openly scorns his city of birth, has instead threatened to cut its federal funding. Should he win re-election in November, it seems likely that the city will be forced to implement drastic layoffs and service cuts.

New York City may even be compelled to borrow just to keep everyday services running; the mayor has asked state leaders to grant the city the authority to do so. So far, the state has resisted.

Shootings are on the rise, some New Yorkers are fleeing for the suburbs, businesses are reconsidering their need for office space

[a fool in paradise]

There will be museums and shows to see again some day. Certainly museums. In my state museums are open and staging new exhibitions, just with reduced crowd size

[T Ruth]

Numerous economic indicators suggest that New York City will face an extended financial crisis

Nevertheless, Democrat politicians continue to use tax revenues and to borrow money to pay for the schooling, medical care, court costs, court-appointed lawyers, etc. of illegal aliens.

[TXBlair]

I’m having a hard time working up any tears over this.

[gogeo]

In a nutshell.

[nutmeg]

.

[GailA]

You have to feel bad for the Conservative areas, like Niagara Falls, grape growers, dairy farmers. They have to live with the mess NYC made of the state.