More than 160 New York business leaders and economic officials, including the bosses of Pfizer, Morgan Stanley and WeWork, on Thursday called on the city’s mayor to act against the decline in quality of life observed since the start of the pandemic .
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Despite the “devastating health and economic impact” of COVID-19, “we are convinced that New York can and must remain a thriving global center of commerce, innovation and opportunity,” they write in a letter to to Bill de Blasio.
But “an unprecedented number of New Yorkers are unemployed or at risk,” they say. “There is widespread concern about public safety, cleanliness and other quality of life issues that contribute to deteriorating conditions” in all neighborhoods.
The first American metropolis is indeed facing increasing crime and the vacancy of many apartments and shops.
However, they add, employees, customers and tourists need to know that they will be “safe and in a healthy work environment” to return to New York.
If the more than 60 million tourists who visit the Big Apple annually have disappeared, New Yorkers have also fled by the thousands: at least 35,000 people have left Manhattan, in view of postal ballot requests recorded for the presidential election, according to District President Gale Brewer.
The mayor of the city took note of the letter, indicating in a tweet to be “grateful” for the work carried out by the companies and ensuring to cooperate with them to “rebuild a fairer, better city”.
However, he added, “to restore the city’s public services and save jobs, we need to have access to long-term loans and support from the federal government.” And to do this, “we need these business leaders to join our fight to move the City forward.”
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