He just holds out hope that the city streets will come back to the life they had before. Even prior to the pandemic, the cold weather was slow for business, and now he worries it will be a financial deep freeze. “And that’s a surprisingly huge part of the Manhattan economy.”Īhmed worries about his own future, especially as winter approaches. “There are just going to be fewer of those chance encounters, where people pick up something to eat or drink or to bring home during their lunch hour, on their way to work and on the way home,” Bowles said. Office workers being slow to go back is “absolutely going to impact the bottom line for tons of … vendors, people that operate food trucks and so many more businesses that are really dependent on office workers providing a big chunk of their sales,” Bowles said. The city’s unemployment rate was 6.6% in August, significantly higher than the national rate of 3.7%. “Stores are operating with fewer people because there are fewer customers,” he said. If office workers are “not in the city, they’re not shopping in the city,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Among retail outlets, food and beverage stores have seen only about 66% of jobs come back, while clothing stores have seen about 62%, according to the New York City Independent Budget Office. “Office people are not back, but evenings and weekends, people are out,” said Singh, a cabbie for about 35 years.īut other sectors are suffering. While there are fewer commuters, he’s finding fares at other times. Some, like taxi driver Sukhdarshan Singh, have learned to adjust. I Wish that the round moon take my best blessing to you. Happy Mid-Autumn Day Wish that you go well and have a successful and bright future. Wish you a perfect life just like the roundest moon in Mid-Autumn Day. Whether companies have some or all of their employees back on a given day, the spaces need to be cleaned and maintained, so his members are needed, he said. I wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Day and a wonderful life. Denis Johnston, executive vice president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, said almost all of the commercial office space cleaners represented by the union are back at work. On the worst, even getting to 10-15% can be a challenge.įor some dependent on office life, the partial return has been enough. On his best days, midweek, he sees maybe 60% of what he would have before the pandemic. “But there are still really large pockets, particularly around the central business districts where entrepreneurs and small businesses are struggling left and right … seeing a fraction of their previous customers,” Bowles said.Īhmed is among them. They’re people like Emad Ahmed, 58, who for more than two decades has worked in lower Manhattan, running his food cart on a plaza near Wall Street and the World Trade Center. They are the workers whose livelihoods can’t happen over an internet connection, who have depended on that serendipity of a customer being in the right place at the right time - the sudden impulse to buy a snack, pop into a store, throw some dollars into a street performer’s tip bucket. That’s meant hardship for New Yorkers who are part of the economy built around the commuting class. “We’re certainly entered a changed relationship between office workers and their offices,” said James Parrott, director of Economic and Fiscal Policies at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School. But the onset of autumn has also made it clearer than ever that the recovery will be drawn out, and that some aspects of the city’s economic ecosystem could be changed for good. More workers did return to their offices, at least part time, as the summer ended, limited data suggests. NEW YORK (AP) - As kids returned to school last month, people watching New York City pull itself out of COVID-19’s shadow wondered whether workers who fled Manhattan’s office towers during the pandemic would finally return in a rush, too. Starting from 20 August, look out for the return of physical programmes which include the street lantern light-up, official light-up ceremony, live performances and both offline and online workshops and activities.Īll these and more that everyone can look forward to. This year's festival will see a line-up of exciting hybrid programmes that will be sure to delight your family and loved ones. They are best enjoyed with a strong, palate-cleansing cup of Chinese tea. Today, you’ll find them in many varieties, from traditional flavours with lotus seed paste and egg yolk, to snowskin versions filled with everything from chocolate to champagne truffle. Legend has it that they helped to free Yuan China from Mongol rule, after rebels organised an uprising by passing messages hidden in these seasonal pastries. Without a doubt, mooncakes are the main highlight of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
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