The Small Apple! Just 8% of Manhattan white collar workers are back in their offices five days a week: Almost 25% of Wall Street firms warn of planned NYC staff cuts as crime spirals and staff move to Texas and Florida
Just eight per cent of Manhattan white collar workers are back in their offices five days a week, according to a new survey, which also found that 22 per cent of Wall Street firms are planning to reduce their workforces in New York City in the next five years.
The worrying figures and prediction comes amid a surge in violent crime and an uptick in firms moving employees to Texas and Florida.
Wall Street firms account for the highest share of any industry planning to cut their NYC workforces with 13% of all other companies also poised to do the same, according to a Wednesday report from the Partnership for New York City, which surveyed the city's major employers over a 10-day period last month.
Just 28 per cent of the city's 1 million office workers are back in their offices on an average weekday, according to the survey. While eight per cent of Manhattan workers are back in person five days a week, a little over half – or 54 per cent – are still working from home full time.
Meanwhile 10 per cent are in their offices four days a week, 12 per cent are in person three days a week, eight per cent are in twice a week and another eight per cent are in just one day a week.
As a resukt, roughly a third of employers expect that their office space needs will decline over the next five years, the report also found.
Only 8% of Manhattan white collar workers are back in their offices five days a week, according to a survey from the Partnership for New York City
Employers polled by the survey expect about half their staff will return on an average weekday by the end of January
The Partnership for New York City survey also found that 22% of Wall Street firms are planning to reduce their workforces in New York City in the next five years
However, employers polled by the survey expect about half their staff will return on an average weekday by the end of January. Bosses said that they anticipate 13% of workers to be back five days a week, 11% to be in person four days per week, 33% to be at their desks in three days per week, 15% to be in two days per week, 7% will be in one day per week and 21% to remain fully remote.
The return to work is proving sluggish, with respondents telling the survey that fears over crime in Midtown Manhattan are partially to blame for their reluctance to return.
Job prospects in New York's financial-services industry is being impacted by the move by a number of Wall Street companies to offices in less expensive locations like Texas and Florida, in addition to the increase in automation and other technology that reduce the need for more staffers, Bloomberg reported.
In June, Goldman Sachs announced plans to move more than 100 key employees from the firm's New York headquarters to a new office in Palm Beach, Florida, the New York Post reported at the time.
The Florida expansion is still in its early stages and a growing number of employees have made firm commitments, according to a report from Business Insider. Among those who have expressed interest in moving are partners in the firm, whose salaries start at $950,000 not including bonuses and other perks.
'High-performing managing directors or vice presidents are also being encouraged to relocate, to signal that the office won't be considered a backwater that kneecaps their Wall Street career,' the report said, citing an unnamed source.
Roughly a third of employers expect that their office space needs will decline over the next five years
The findings come as an uptick in firms have plans to move employees to Texas and Florida. In June, Goldman Sachs announced plans to move more than 100 key employees from the firm's New York headquarters to a new office in Palm Beach, Florida, pictured above.
When employers were asked by the Partnership to rank the factors that they attribute to the slow return to the office, 48% cited the status of the coronavirus pandemic as their primary concern and 33% cited employee's preference to work remotely.
Aside from the pandemic, the major reason cited for employees opting to stay home was commuting issues and public safety concerns as random acts of violent crime in Manhattan have soared in recent months.
Most recently, a New York City subway rider waiting for a train Monday was shoved onto the tracks in the latest unprovoked attack on a straphanger.
The harrowing incident took place in Lower Manhattan about 5.30am inside the Chambers Street station, where a 45-year-old man was pushed off the No. 1 train platform and onto the subway tracks by a deranged stranger.
The stunned victim was able to pull himself back up onto the subway platform before any trains approached. Authorities said he was treated at the scene for minor injuries, including a small cut.
He told police his assailant never said a word as he approached before shoving him onto the train tracks.
Crime in NYC is up 1.3 percent year-to-date compared to last year. Crime in October rose 11.2 percent compared to October 2020 as the mayor talks about a return to 'pre-pandemic levels'
Transit crimes have skyrocketed as ridership struggles to return to pre-pandemic levels. There were 350 complaints involving transit crimes - which include felony assault, sex crimes, robbery and harassment - in September, a jump of more than 72 percent from the 254 complaints filed in September 2020
For this year's week of October 25 to October 31, there were 42 transit crimes committed, a 20 percent spike when compared to the same time last year.
On Wednesday, police released video showing the moment a man brutally attacked a woman on November 1 in the elevator of New York City subway station earlier this month, before dragging her out by her feet and stealing $50.
The video shows a 36-year-old woman getting into the elevator at Lexington Avenue subway station in Harlem with her utility cart.
A man wearing a dark hoodie approached her as she pressed the button in the elevator and appeared to talk to her before he became visibly angry.
He screamed at the woman in her face before grabbing and punching her multiple times with her back against the elevator wall.
During the assault, the victim attempted to push him away but he knocked her to the floor and then dragged her out of the elevator by her feet. Police said the attacker stole $50 in cash from the woman and fled the scene.
A 16-year-old (pictured) has been arrested for attempted murder after opening fire on a 14-year-old who was stepping onto a Harlem bus
The assault left the victim with swelling to her face but she refused medical attention, police said. No arrests have been made and the suspect was still being sought on Wednesday.
Police released footage the same day of another shocking crime that also happened in Harlem when a 16-year-old opened fire on a 14-year-old who was boarding a bus. The shooter, who has not been named because of his age, grazed the victim's head and nearly hit a bus driver, police said. Both victims were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The suspect fired the shots as the 14-year-old was stepping onto an M1 bus on West 139th Street around 10am on October 14. Footage released by the police showed the gunman walking along the sidewalk before opening fire on the bus with a small-caliber pistol from close range.
The bullets grazed the victim and bounced off the wind- and protective shield of the bus, avoiding the 39-year-old bus driver, Deputy Inspector Peter Fiorillo of the Detective Bureau Manhattan North said.
A man in a hoodie brutally attacked a 36-year-old woman in the elevator of Lexington Avenue subway station in Harlem, New York City earlier this month
At least one of the shots hit a metal bar on the driver's protective shield which may have saved their life, police added.
'The bus operator barrier stopped one of the bullets, otherwise there could have been more serious consequences,' MTA President Craig Cipriano said at a press conference at the time.
The driver suffered a hand injury. The 14-year-old was taken to Harlem Hospital in a stable condition and is understood to have recovered.
Police at the time said they believed the shooting was gang related and that the shooter had trailed the victim down the block before opening fire.
The victim's mother said her son was on his way to a friend's house at the time of the shooting and usually stayed out of trouble, the Daily News reported at the time.
In another harrowing attack on a teenager, footage authorities released Monday shows a mugger on a scooter rolling up to a 16-year-old boy waiting for a train and pulling a gun on him, one in a series of five attempted robberies by a brazen crew that targeted subway riders in the Bronx last week, police said.
Video footage captured the moment a suspected mugger pulled a gun on a 16-year-old boy on a subway platform at the E. 143rd St Station on October 31
The suspect, who was on a scooter wearing a red mask, exited through the turn stile after briefly pulling the gun on the boy
The gun-wielding mugger rolled up on the 16-year-old boy as he sat on a bench while waiting for an uptown train at the E. 143rd St station on Halloween night at around 10, the video shows.
The red-masked suspect pulled a gun out of his pocket and briefly pointed it at the boy, according to the video. However, the brave teen apparently refused to hand over his cellphone.
The video shows the gunman put his weapon back in his pocket and scoot off toward the exit, where he menaced the teen by pointing the gun through the station gate.
About 10 minutes later, the same suspect and an accomplice reportedly went after a young couple outside the station.
This time they were more successful. One of the muggers pulled a gun and stole an iPhone 12, AirPods and a wallet as three others in the crew kept a lookout.
A few days later, two muggers from the suspected crew took a 15-year-old boy's iPhone 10 and Nike backpack after pulling a gun on him while he was leaving the Nereid Ave. station, police said.
The boy's backpack contained a MacBook and a bank card.
About 15 minutes after the stickup, the gunman was seen carrying the stolen red backpack as he targeted another victim at the 219th St. station, a second video released by cops shows.
Just like in the first video, the targeted man, who was 19, was sitting on a platform bench waiting for the uptown train. Again the robber stalked the victim before appearing to brandish a gun.
The two scuffled near the edge of the station's steps before the 19-year-old fled down the flight of the stairs as the suspect gave chase before giving up the pursuit, cops said.
The incidents remain under investigation as police attempt to identify the gunnman and his various accomplices.
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