The New York Times published an article about how rich neighborhoods emptied out since the Coronavirus broke out in the City. “Roughly 5 percent of residents — or about 420,000 people — left the city between March 1 and May 1. In the city’s very wealthiest blocks, in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, the West Village, SoHo and Brooklyn Heights, residential population decreased by 40 percent or more, while the rest of the city saw comparably modest changes. This migration out of the city began in mid-March, and accelerated in the days after March 15, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he was closing the city’s schools. The highest-earning neighborhoods emptied first.”
According to the map in the New York Times article which uses data from Descartes Lab, a geospatial analysis company, our neighborhoods have emptied out from around 20% to 50% over the last few months:
- DUMBO 20% – 30%
- Brooklyn Heights 30% – 40%
- Cobble Hill 40% – 50%
“The phone data shows New Yorkers primarily went to surrounding counties — east into Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, west to Monroe County in Pennsylvania, south to Monmouth County in New Jersey, north to Westchester County, northeast to Fairfield County in Connecticut and farther afield in all directions. Palm Beach County, in South Florida, was among the top locations for displaced New Yorkers.”
Did you stay in Brooklyn with your family or did you leave? If you left, when do you plan to come back? Comment below!
