The corona pandemic plunged New York’s economy into deep crisis – the city is bankrupt. No help has come from the incumbent US President Trump so far – the greater are the expectations of his successor Biden.
By Peter Mücke, ARD-Studio New York
The jubilation was not only great in New York’s Times Square when it became clear that Joe Biden could no longer take the presidency. Many people in charge in the city and state also breathed a sigh of relief that they no longer have to negotiate with a President Donald Trump in the future.
22,000 jobs are at stake
“Trump is trying to kill New York City,” complained New York Governor Andrew Cuomo again and again at the height of the corona pandemic, because Trump blocked aid packages and economic stimulus programs to the last. “It’s something personal, I think it’s also something psychological.”
With the victory of Biden it is now clear that there will be help for the city and for the state, so Cuomo. “It will help us cope with New York’s economic problems. It is only a matter of time. If Trump had won, we would be in a deep mess.”
The expectations of the new man in Washington are great. Also with New York Mayor Bill De Blasio. “I’m looking forward to it,” he says. “We’ll be very, very receptive to our problems in the White House when Joe Biden is President.”
De Blasio and Cuomo can use that too, because New York is broke. The city alone is missing $ 9 billion from its budget. If money does not come into the coffers quickly, 22,000 municipal employees will have to be laid off. The unemployment rate is more than 14 percent, twice as high as the US average.
Tourism and local transport in crisis
This is also due to the fact that tourism as an important economic factor has practically collapsed. “That has dramatic consequences in all areas,” says Christopher Heywood of the New York City Tourism Authority NYC & Company. “Hotels, restaurants, tour operators, but also retailers and the entire transport sector – all are suffering from this ongoing global pandemic.” He expects that it will take until 2024 for tourism – especially international tourism – to return to pre-Corona levels.
The already chronically underfunded and accordingly ailing New York public transport will take years to recover – and is now relying on Biden. “Every school child in the US knows that Biden’s nickname is ‘Amtrak-Joe’,” explains Patrick Foye, head of the New York City Transportation Company. “As a US Senator, he commuted from Wilmington to Washington on the Amtrak train for 37 years. He’s always been a huge supporter of public transportation. That’s definitely a positive.” The number of passengers has plummeted. Without a $ 12 billion aid package, employees will have to be laid off, the roadmap thinned out and investments put on hold.
Biden alone cannot fix it
The wish list from New York is long – and Biden is not even in office. And even then, many hopes could be dashed, says Douglas Muzzio of City University. Because it is still unclear whether the Democrats also have a majority in the US Senate: “Biden will only be able to really help New York if the Democrats win the two Senatorial runoffs in Georgia. If not, then there is the blockade again that we had. “
Ambitious economic stimulus programs would then hardly be enforceable. Governor Cuomo has understood this by now – and now wants to push ahead with the legalization of marijuana in his state, although he was actually always against it. “I think the time is ripe this year because we urgently need money. Even with Biden and an economic stimulus package. We need the tax revenue. I think we will implement that this year.”
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