Nearly Half a Million NYC Residents Moved Out of City Since April 2020

By Yehudit Garmaise

In just two years, almost half a million New Yorkers decamped to other cities, the US Census Bureau reported yesterday.

While New York City remains the most populous city in the U.S., the number of NYC residents came down from 8.8 million in April 2020 to 8.4 million in July 2022.

New Yorkers explain the city’s 5% population loss in different ways.

“People aren’t feeling safe out there, so they leave,” said Ushi Teitelbaum, the director of community affairs at the Boro Park Jewish Community Center. “We have seen a few harsh years full of crime, anti-Semitism, and people being beaten up in the subway.”

Plus, thanks to the option of remote work, many people feel they can now live anywhere in the country, Teitelbaum added.

“People are going down to Florida, if they want,” he added. “Safety in our cities is crucial.”

Other Boro Park residents point to the economic fallout of the pandemic.

“People working hourly jobs during lockdown missed out on months of wages with only a little bit of help from the city and state,” said Blima M., a Boro Park resident of seven years. “Businesses closed. A lot of things are getting better now but people who have the means to move have moved to areas with lower costs of living, while other New Yorkers have made changes to adapt financially.”

Americans who live in the country’s second- and third-largest cities, Los Angeles, California, and Chicago, Ill., which are also Sanctuary cities that report high crime and widespread homelessness, are moving out as well, the Census Bureau data shows, Breitbart reported.

Los Angeles, California, the country’s second-largest city lost 100,000 residents between April 2020 and July 2022, and Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the US, said goodbye to 85,000 residents.

“Crime and violence have become commonplace and our elected officials are indifferent,” said Brian Robinson, who ran to represent Boro Park’s District 10 in the House of Representatives in August 2022 and is now running for City Council: to represent District 4 in Manhattan. “New Yorkers are disheartened by the radical politics and don’t see an end to the madness.”