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AMERICANNewsline

14 DECEMBER 13, 2024

NYC Mayor Adams Releases New Analysis Showing

Post-Covid Recovery Of Holiday Spending, Job Creation,

Foot Traffic As “Affordability Week” Rolls On

Retail Sector Has Added Average of 14,000 Jobs Each Holiday Season, Generating

Over $500 Million Per Year in Economic Impact

OUR BUREAU from the average daily visitation of
the year. Daily visitation in these
New York, NY
districts peaked at 4.4 million visi-
ew York City Mayor Eric Ad- tors — 2.8 times the population of
ams on Thursday released a Manhattan — on the weekend before
Nnew report, “Festive Spend- Christmas.
ing: the Impact of the Holiday Sea- Manhattan retail hubs like Fifth
son on NYC Retail,” showing holiday Avenue, Bryant Park, Times Square,
season shopping in New York City and SoHo are the most popular des-
has fully recovered following the tinations for holiday shopping, with
COVID-19 pandemic, attracting up foot traffic increasing significantly on
to 4.4 million daily visitors, creating Black Friday as well as on December
14,000 jobs, and pouring over $500 weekends. In other boroughs, retail
million into New York City’s local hubs like Downtown Flushing and
economy. This injection of money into the MetroTech area in Downtown
local businesses comes as Mayor Ad- Brooklyn also attract large crowds.
ams celebrates “Affordability Week,” Daily visits to Downtown Flushing,
where he is advancing a series of gen- for example, exceed those to SoHo.
erational projects that will make New The holiday season is also a key
York City more affordable for work- driver of jobs for the retail sector.
ing-class people. The New York City “We’re hitting jobs record after jobs dollars of spending at businesses of Since 2020, the retail sector has add-
Economic Development Corporation record, we’ve brought our economy all sizes and is poised to enter 2025 on ed an average of 14,000 jobs each
(NYCEDC) report — analyzing daily back from its COVID lows to hit an economic upswing that will benefit holiday season, generating over $500
visitation on Black Friday and De- new highs, and we’re continuing to all New Yorkers.” million per year in economic impact.
cember weekends from 2019 to 2023 put money back into working-class “New York City has reached re- The Midtown hubs — Times
— traced foot traffic across traditional New Yorkers’ pockets to make this cord highs this year in employment Square, Bryant Park, and Fifth Av-
Manhattan tourism and retail hubs city more affordable. No time is that and labor force participation. This enue — are top attractions for tour-
like Times Square and Fifth Avenue, more true than the holidays — and new report shows that our shopping ists, especially during the holidays. In
as well as neighborhoods across the we can’t wait to welcome the millions districts have also had a strong come- 2023, 70 percent of visitors to these
boroughs like Downtown Flushing in of people from around the world back and will continue to thrive,” said areas during the holiday season came
Queens and MetroTech in Brooklyn. who come to our shopping districts NYCEDC President and CEO An- from outside of the city, 9 percentage
As the Adams administration this time of year. They’re supporting drew Kimball. “New York City’s holi- points higher than an average week-
and New York City has broken mul- thousands of jobs and businesses, and day season is expected to return to its end.
tiple records for total jobs in the city’s injecting half a billion dollars into our pre-COVID levels this year, bringing Increased visitation leads to high-
history, and a recent analysis from the local economy. So, when you’re shop- millions of visitors, thousands of jobs, er consumer spending near the end of
New York City Department of City ping this holiday season, remember — and hundreds of millions of dollars the year. In New York City, spending
Planning (DCP) shows a robust re- shop local, shop small, and most of all, to our communities, from Midtown during December weekends in 2023
covery of the retail sector, the holiday spend money in New York City!” Manhattan to Downtown Flushing was 20 percent higher than non-hol-
season is poised to bring a significant “This report offers data that sup- and everywhere in between.” iday weekends that year.
boost to New York City’s economy ports what we see across the city ev- Key takeaways from the report The report on holiday retail
and continue to put money in New ery day — a robust economy, bustling include: boosts follows positive news last
Yorkers’ pockets, making the city business corridors, and a large and The holiday season is the bus- month from DCP that storefront
more affordable for working-class growing network of small businesses iest time of the year for New York vacancy rates have declined for four
people. in every borough,” said First Deputy City shopping districts. In 2023, dai- consecutive quarters. By comparison,
“New York City isn’t just coming Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. “As we ly visitation during Black Friday and a survey of 24 corridors across the city
back — we’re back, and we’re bet- enter the holiday retail season, the December weekends averaged 3.2 during the summer of 2020 showed
ter than ever,” said Mayor Adams. city will see hundreds of millions of million visitors, a 14 percent increase inactivity rates of over 30 percent.

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