From the New York Times:
Retail Chains Abandon Manhattan: ‘It’s Unsustainable’
For years, Bryant Park Grill & Cafe in Midtown Manhattan has been one of the country’s top-grossing restaurants, the star property in Ark Restaurants’ portfolio of 20 restaurants across the United States.
But what propelled it to the top has vanished.
The tourists are gone, the office towers surrounding it are largely empty and the restaurant’s 1,000-seat dining room is closed. Instead, dinner is cooked and served on its patio, and the scaled-down restaurant brings in about $12,000 a day — an 85 percent plunge in revenue, its chief executive said.
A bit more:
In the heart of Manhattan, national chains including J.C. Penney, Kate Spade, Subway and Le Pain Quotidien have shuttered branches for good. Many other large brands, like Victoria’s Secret and the Gap, have kept their high-profile locations closed in Manhattan, while reopening in other states.
Michael Weinstein, the chief executive of Ark Restaurants, who owns Bryant Park Grill & Cafe and 19 other restaurants, said he will never open another restaurant in New York.
Yeah - people are voting with their feet.
Time for a U Haul index - looking at New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Middle of the week and middle of the month - the lowest demand for rental vehicles so the cheapest rates:
$440 compared to $1,904 - looking at a 433% difference between the two directions. A lot more people leaving NYC than Charlotte.
Remember too - this is the "common folk" who are doing the moving. Anyone in upper-middle and higher would be hiring the moving job to a company. These moves do not enter into this equasion.
A simple lack of accountability, fiscal planning, making a budget and sticking to it and then, a lack of leadership at the top. A Democrat utopia. They own this lock, stock and barrel.
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