For all of modern American history, the movie theater has been a cornerstone of our culture.
It has become a gathering point for families, friends and maybe a first date.
And for more than 30 years, people in the Bronx turned to Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas, but next month, the theater that has housed laughs, cries and everything in between, will shut its doors.
The theater first opened its doors in 1991 when “Home Alone” and “Thelma & Louise” were screening, but just ahead of summer, the final film will flicker across the theater’s iconic screens.
Locals are convinced the boom in digital platforms has made the movie-going experience more irrelevant.
“All these streaming networks, that’s probably what it is. Instead of spending money on movies, they probably just want to stay home,” resident Brook Schuler said.
The Bronx has just two theaters left. Once the multiplex shuts down, moviegoers will have to make their way to Bay Plaza in Co-op City.
Showcase Cinemas, the parent company of Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas, was apparently unable to reach a new lease agreement.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson says the shutdown does not come as much of a shock.
“This is happening across the board where you sometimes have landlords and owners that are raising the price exorbitantly where the tenants can no longer afford it and they’ll say it’s not worth it anymore,” Gibson said. “We’re losing customers, we’re losing revenue, we can’t meet payroll and we just can’t maintain a business we’re operating at a deficit and no one wants to do that.”
Meanwhile, Feil, the landlord of Concourse Plaza, rejects claims that a new leasing deal could not be reached.
“Despite negotiating with the theater company and getting them to renew the lease, they chose to leave the community,” a representative for the company said
They said they are hoping to replace them with another theater.
The theater is just the latest entity in the once bustling shopping center on 161st Street to shutter. A food court and a grocery store also closed their doors for good in recent years.
From the US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024 (table 1), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2023, real GDP increased 3.4 percent.
The GDP estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (refer to “Source Data for the Advance Estimate” on page 3). The “second” estimate for the first quarter, based on more complete source data, will be released on May 30, 2024.
The increase in real GDP primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, residential fixed investment, nonresidential fixed investment, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased (table 2).
The increase in consumer spending reflected an increase in services that was partly offset by a decrease in goods. Within services, the increase primarily reflected increases in health care as well as financial services and insurance. Within goods, the decrease primarily reflected decreases in motor vehicles and parts as well as gasoline and other energy goods. Within residential fixed investment, the increase was led by brokers’ commissions and other ownership transfer costs as well as new single-family housing construction. The increase in nonresidential fixed investment mainly reflected an increase in intellectual property products. The increase in state and local government spending reflected an increase in compensation of state and local government employees. The decrease in inventory investment primarily reflected decreases in wholesale trade and manufacturing. Within imports, the increase reflected increases in both goods and services.
Compared to the fourth quarter, the deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected decelerations in consumer spending, exports, and state and local government spending and a downturn in federal government spending. These movements were partly offset by an acceleration in residential fixed investment. Imports accelerated.
Current‑dollar GDP increased 4.8 percent at an annual rate, or $327.5 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $28.28 trillion. In the fourth quarter, GDP increased 5.1 percent, or $346.9 billion (tables 1 and 3).
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 3.1 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter (table 4). The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 3.4 percent, compared with an increase of 1.8 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 3.7 percent, compared with an increase of 2.0 percent.
Personal Income
Current-dollar personal income increased $407.1 billion in the first quarter, compared with an increase of $230.2 billion in the fourth quarter. The increase primarily reflected increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts (table 8).
Disposable personal income increased $226.2 billion, or 4.5 percent, in the first quarter, compared with an increase of $190.4 billion, or 3.8 percent, in the fourth quarter. Increases in compensation and personal current transfer receipts were partly offset by an increase in personal current taxes, which are a subtraction in the calculation of DPI. Real disposable personal income increased 1.1 percent, compared with an increase of 2.0 percent.
Personal saving was $755.7 billion in the first quarter, compared with $815.5 billion in the fourth quarter. The personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.6 percent in the first quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter.
Source Data for the Advance Estimate
The GDP estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency. Information on the source data and key assumptions used in the advance estimate is provided in a Technical Note and a detailed “Key Source Data and Assumptions” file posted with the release. The second estimate for the first quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on May 30, 2024. For information on updates to GDP, refer to the “Additional Information” section that follows.
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Next release, May 30, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. EDT Gross Domestic Product (Second Estimate) Corporate Profits (Preliminary Estimate) First Quarter 2024
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, who has advocated for the bill at rallies around the city, announced in a press release that her SMOKEOUT Act was included in the state budget. PHOTO COURTESY NYS ASSEMBLY
The SMOKEOUT Act enables local municipalities to close illegal smoke shops if the location is an “egregious actor,” such as operating next to a school or selling unregulated cannabis. PHOTO BY KRISTEN GUGLIELMO
New York City and all local municipalities will now have the power to shut down illegal pot shops, according to Gov. Hochul.
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Woodhaven) penned the Stop Marijuana Over-proliferation and Keep Empty Operators of Unlicensed Transactions Act, colloquially known as the SMOKEOUT Act, to combat the illicit shops, and provisions from this bill are to be included in the state budget, according to a press release from her office. In the other house of legislature, the bill was carried by state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans).
“Unlicensed dispensaries have littered New York neighborhoods, blatantly circumventing our laws and selling potentially dangerous products,” Hochul said Friday in a statement. “Enough is enough. I promised to protect our communities and hard-working, legal cannabis licensees by expediting the closure of illicit storefronts. I’m proud to stand up and say we got it done.”
The New York City Administrative Code will be amended, allowing the City to act under the law immediately. Hochul is also launching a statewide task force to carry out civil enforcement to close illegal stores.
“I am proud to say that New York City and all localities will now have the power to shut down illegal cannabis shops on their own, without waiting for the State Office of Cannabis Management,” Rajkumar explained. “In New York City, the Office of the Sheriff will now be able to deputize the NYPD and all agencies to help padlock the shops. This means New York City can use its full manpower to get the job done.”
Provisions include that localities can padlock a spot immediately, provided that the shop is an “egregious actor,” which is defined as selling cannabis to children, operating next to a school or place of worship, selling unregulated cannabis or products that lead to illness or hospitalization or the presence of illegal firearms.
Unlicensed shops that do not fall into one of the above categories can be closed upon a second inspection, and any previous inspection conducted before the passage of this law counts for the purposes of padlocking.
Violating a padlock order will be a Class A misdemeanor, and if landlords fail to bring forth eviction proceedings against tenants in violation of the cannabis law, they will be subject to strict penalties, including a $50,000 fine for any landlord notified of the violation within NYC, and five times the rent from the time the landlord was notified of the violation outside of NYC.
There are also due process provisions that give violators a chance to “cure and be heard,” according to Rajkumar’s press release.
Violators can file an appeal within seven days and are entitled to a hearing on the appeal within three days of filing. A decision on the appeal must be rendered four days after the hearing, and failure to appeal leads to a default judgement against the egregious actor.
“We’ll notify bodega owners if they continue to sell illegal products, we’ll take away their liquor, tobacco and lottery licenses,” Hochul said Friday.
Rajkumar said that during the next few weeks, she will be raiding illegal shops alongside city Sheriff Anthony Miranda.
Mayor Adams has been an outspoken supporter of the legislation, and has said that if the bill passed, he would be able to shut down all of the city’s illegal smoke shops within 30 days.
Asked for comment, a City Hall spokesperson said, “We carried our bold agenda to Albany for several requests, and thanks to our efforts, this budget will achieve our core priorities, including the power to finally close down the illegal smoke shops plaguing our streets. Thanks to our work with Governor Hochul and other state partners, this budget will allow our city agencies to use the full force of the law to enforce against, regularly inspect, and permanently close illegal dispensaries more quickly and efficiently.
“We celebrate the important steps forward we have made toward uplifting the legal cannabis market and ensuring New Yorkers are safe from illegal cannabis products and shops.”
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released the City of New York’s balanced $111.6 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Executive Budget. Mayor Adams’ budget builds on the administration’s actions, since last fall, to stabilize the city’s fiscal outlook, and has positioned the city to backfill long-term programs that had only been funded with temporary stimulus funds while making the investments that double down on the city’s efforts to strengthen public safety, rebuild the economy, and make the city more livable. These investments will specifically add more police officers to city streets and subways, protect educational programs with city and recurring state funds and increase access to early childhood education, provide support for thousands of cultural institutions, and boost programs that improve the quality of life for working-class New Yorkers. By virtue of Mayor Adams’ strong fiscal management and better-than-expected revenue, the Adams administration balanced the budget, stabilized the city’s fiscal position and outlook, and prevented major service cuts, tax hikes, or layoffs.
FY24 and FY25 remain balanced, with outyear gaps of $5.5 billion, $5.5 billion, and $5.7 billion in Fiscal Years 2026 through 2028, respectively. Growth of $2.2 billion in FY25 over the Preliminary Budget is driven by stronger than expected economic activity in FY24 and an improved outlook in FY25.
“When we came into office two years ago, during the height of another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were determined to protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make our city more livable for working-class New Yorkers,” said Mayor Adams. “We have made great strides in these commitments, and today, crime is down, jobs are up, our streets are cleaners, we’re taking on major quality of life issues, and we have financed the most newly constructed affordable housing in a single year in our city’s history. Thanks to our strong fiscal management, we are able to invest in the things that matter to New Yorkers in this Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget, including public safety, early childhood education, and the needs of working-class people. As New York City moves toward the future, our core values will continue to guide us as we continue to build a safer, more equitable, and more prosperous city for all New Yorkers.”
Proactive Fiscal Management
On the heels of the pandemic, New York City had to confront substantial challenges, filling holes left where long-term programs were funded with temporary stimulus dollars, and the costs of funding fair labor deals that went years unresolved with city employees. While there are still reasons to remain cautious — like slowing revenue growth in coming fiscal years — by making smart decisions in the November and January plans — like monitoring spending and trimming agency and asylum seeker budgets — as well as better-than-expected revenue, the administration has balanced the budget and steadied the city’s fiscal position.
Strong and decisive action led to achieving a record level of gap-closing savings, and due to better-than-expected economic growth, the administration was able to cancel the previously announced Executive Budget Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG). As good stewards of taxpayer dollars, the administration still achieved $41 million in agency expense savings, over FY24 and FY25, driven by underspending, where agencies spent less than expected to fund a program or service. This has no impact on service delivery.
Additionally, because continuing to fund the needs of the asylum seeker humanitarian crisis without any limits was not sustainable, Mayor Adams committed to PEG the city’s asylum seeker spending over FY24 and FY25 by a total of approximately 30 percent between the Preliminary and Executive Budgets. As a result of the administration’s policies — including providing 30 to 60 days of housing, legal support, intensified case management, and reducing per diem household costs — more than 65 percent of the asylum seekers who have come through the city’s intake centers have left the city’s care and taken the next steps in their journeys. The administration has successfully cut migrant costs in the Executive Budget by $586 million over FY24 and FY25. Along with $1.7 billion in migrant costs previously cut in the FY25 Preliminary Budget, this brings the two-year total migrant PEG savings achieved to nearly $2.3 billion.
Total savings — including the asylum seeker PEGs — achieved in FY24 and FY25 over the November, January, and April Financial Plans is now $7.2 billion.
Additionally, tax revenue has been revised up by $619 million in FY24 and $1.7 billion in FY25 compared with the Preliminary Budget due to better than anticipated economic performance in 2023 and an improved economic outlook in 2024. These additional revenues were used to help remain balanced in FY24 and FY25. However, tax revenue growth is expected to cool in upcoming fiscal years as the local economy slows, bolstering the fact that the city cannot rely exclusively on revenue growth to resolve fiscal challenges.
Maintaining budget reserves as a hedge against the unexpected is a critical part of the administration’s strong financial management strategy. The FY25 Executive Budget maintains a near-record level $8.2 billion in reserves, including $1.2 billion in the General Reserve, $4.8 billion in the Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund, $250 million in the Capital Stabilization Reserve, and $1.96 billion in the Rainy-Day Fund.
FY25 Priorities
The FY25 Executive Budget enhances safety and doubles down on the Adams administration’s efforts to continue to bring down crime by adding two more police classes this year and putting 1,200 additional police officers on the streets by adding July and October New York City Police Department (NYPD) classes. Now, all police academy classes will be fully funded in 2024. This adds 2,400 new police officers to city streets in the coming year and puts New York City on the path to having a total of 35,000 uniformed officers protecting New Yorkers in the coming years.
The Adams administration’s strong fiscal management, combined with a stronger than anticipated economic performance in 2023, helped put the city in a position to fund a number of stimulus-funded long-term programs that could be backfilled with city and state dollars. In the FY25 Executive Budget, Mayor Adams uses $514 million in city and recurring state funds to support key education programs that had been funded with expiring stimulus dollars, including mental health care, career readiness, and literacy programs for New York City public school students.
More specifically, some highlighted investments of the FY25 Executive Budget include:
Keeping New Yorkers Safe
Doubling down on decreases in homicides and shootings by adding 1,200 more police recruits between the July and October NYPD classes, putting New York City on a path to have 35,000 uniformed officers in the coming years ($62.4 million, FY25).
Funding for the Job Connections initiative, which will connect 500 young New Yorkers at risk of gun violence with career readiness and green job placement programs ($16.9 million, FY25).
Expanding the Crisis Management System to support additional Cure Violence coverage areas and additional mental health services in gun violence safety precincts ($8.6 million, FY25).
Supporting the Neighborhood Safety Alliance, which fosters collaboration between communities, actors, law enforcement agencies, and city services to reduce gun violence in six additional precincts ($2.5 million, FY25).
Securing a Better Future for New York City Children
Supporting citywide 3-K expansion as it transitions from its original stimulus funding source ($92 million, FY25).
Supporting nearly 500 social workers and psychologists who provide mental health supports in schools ($74 million, FY25) *.
Maintaining funding for special education Pre-K providers to increase service hours, and resources for DOE-related services and evaluation teams ($56 million, FY25)*.
Investing in pathways programs that facilitate career pathways programs in high schools — offering apprenticeships, career-readiness, and access to college credits ($53 million, FY25)*.
Arts funding programming ($41 million, FY25).
Literacy and dyslexia programs and academic assessments for both English language arts, and math ($17 million, FY25)*.
Funding for coordinators for students in temporary housing in schools and shelters ($17 million, FY25)*.
Bilingual education funding for curriculum and assessment, teacher preparation and staffing, professional learning, and multilingual family and community engagement for 100 bilingual programs ($10 million, FY25)*.
Increasing the availability of in-school early childhood education classes and services for students with special needs ($25 million, FY25).
Maximizing enrollment in early childhood education programming and helping parents connect with Pre-K and 3-K seats with an extensive media outreach and marketing campaign ($3.5 million, FY25).
* Indicates funded with recurring state resources.
Investing in Cherished Cultural Institutions
Allocating funding for the Cultural Institutions Group, 34 cultural nonprofits operated on city-owned property ($5.4 million, FY25).
Investing in the Cultural Development Fund, which supports over 1,000 cultural nonprofits across the city ($2.2 million, FY25).
Putting More Money in the Pockets of Working-Class New Yorkers
Ensuring eligible New Yorkers learn about supportive city programs that are available to them and make accessing the resources easy and efficient via the NYC Benefits Access Initiative ($4.6 million, FY25).
Helping low-to moderate-income communities by funding grants to create and support new Small Business Improvement Districts and merchant associations ($5.3 million, FY25).
Establishing the NYC Future Fund that will make loans to Black, indigenous, and people of color-owned businesses with a focus on early-stage businesses ($2 million, FY25).
Climate Budgeting
Mayor Adams is taking a critical step towards making the city cleaner and greener over generations to come in his FY25 Executive Budget. New York City is the first big city in America, and among a small elite group of cities internationally, to implement climate budgeting, a system that integrates climate targets and considerations into the budget process to help achieve the city’s goals of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and resiliency to climate threats. Critically, climate impact will now be one of the many factors that will be balanced when allocating the city’s limited resources to ensure resources are aligned with sustainability and resiliency needs. And — for the first time and moving forward — the Executive Budget will also include a Climate Budgeting publication that will include an analysis of the city’s new and ongoing climate investments and progress toward emissions goals.
More than a year after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced ambitious plans for a new housing deal, state lawmakers have reached an agreement on one. The governor’s proposal, announced Monday after months of negotiation, includes provisions to revive the 421a property tax break for rental projects in New York City and implement a version of “good cause eviction” aimed at protecting tenants from dramatic rent increases. In typical fashion, no one is happy with the outcome. Tenant advocates have expressed dissatisfaction, arguing that the bill’s version of good cause eviction didn’t go far enough. Under the terms of the deal, tenants facing rent increases over 10 percent — or the consumer price index plus 5 percentage points, whichever is lower — will have the right to challenge evictions.
Tenant advocates contend that these thresholds are too high and may still leave vulnerable tenants at risk of displacement. On the other hand, landlord groups like CHIP and RSA lambasted the deal, saying it accomplished “nothing” and “didn’t do enough.” They raised concerns about the modest rent increases, which could make it difficult to fund apartment renovations and repairs. As for 421a, negotiations are still underway to determine how much affordable housing will be required. Of course, this doesn’t quite mark the end for the dealmaking process. Hochul described the deal as “parameters of a conceptual agreement,” meaning the legislature still needs to pass a final version.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same increase as in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.5 percent before seasonal adjustment. The index for shelter rose in March, as did the index for gasoline. Combined, these two indexes contributed over half of the monthly increase in the index for all items. The energy index rose 1.1 percent over the month. The food index rose 0.1 percent in March. The food at home index was unchanged, while the food away from home index rose 0.3 percent over the month. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in March, as it did in each of the 2 preceding months. Indexes which increased in March include shelter, motor vehicle insurance, medical care, apparel, and personal care.
The indexes for used cars and trucks, recreation, and new vehicles were among those that decreased over the month. The all items index rose 3.5 percent for the 12 months ending March, a larger increase than the 3.2-percent increase for the 12 months ending February. The all items less food and energy index rose 3.8 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index increased 2.1 percent for the 12 months ending March, the first 12-month increase in that index since the period ending February 2023. The food index increased 2.2 percent over the last year.
Fewer condos sold in Manhattan last month than in February, despite an uptick in the luxury market, while buyers in Brooklyn signed contracts for five more units than last month.
“With [March] demand closely resembling that of the pre-pandemic period, we may see some normalization of the market as mortgage rates stabilize,” said Marketproof CEO Kael Goodman.
Citywide, deal volume rose by 7% month-over-month, continuing an upward trajectory for the fourth month
Total dollar volume rose 18% to $796M, the best month since June of 2023The luxury market saw a 26% increase in deal volume from last month and a 7% increase in dollar volume
While the March numbers are upbeat, they fall short of the March average during the pandemic recovery (2021-2023) and align more closely with pre-pandemic (2015-2019) numbers
The upward momentum continues for the fourth month, though at a more subdued pace. Deal volume rose 7% from 262 in February to 281 in March. Deal count in Manhattan and Brooklyn was essentially unchanged, but Queens saw an uptick of 57%. The surge in Queens is attributed to a batch of 23 contracts reported at 134-16 35th Avenue. Total dollar volume increased by 18% to $769M from $676M. The median price per square foot (PPSF) dipped slightly from $1,635 to $1,587, and the median price decreased by 7% from $1.62M to $1.5M. The drop in unit price and PPSF reflects a more significant share of the deal volume originating in Queens, a borough with more modestly priced units.
While March’s performance improved month over month, the deal volume represents a 56% decrease compared to the average of 439 deals per month during the pandemic recovery period from 2021 to 2023. The demand in March 2024 aligns more closely with the 289 average during the pre-pandemic period from 2015 to 2019.
Of the 281 deals citywide, 133 (-1%) were in Manhattan, 107 (+5%) were in Brooklyn, and 41 (+57%) were signed in Queens.
LUXURY
The luxury segment saw deal volume jump by 26% month over month, reaching a nine-month peak of 43 contracts. The total dollar volume grew by 42% from $300M to $427M. The median price rose 7% from $5.9M to $6.4M, and the median PPSF was unchanged at $2,631.
One High Line led in deal volume with six contracts over $4M. The West Chelsea complex found buyers for 95 of 235 residences since sales launched a little over a year ago. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group handles sales and marketing.
125 Perry Street led in dollar volume with three contracts totaling $112M, or 26% of the luxury market. The West Village boutique has sold 3 of the 7 residences. Compass handles sales and marketing.
Of the 43 luxury deals this month, 40 were in Manhattan, and three were signed in Brooklyn.
Fiorentina Pizza has closed after a couple of years at 852 8th Avenue. Manhattan Real Estate Tracker has learned that this area has been hit by the reduction in daily workers in Midtown.
A rare earthquake rocked the New York City area on Friday morning, swaying buildings and sending terrified residents into the streets — as the strongest tremblor to hit the Big Apple in 130 years.
City officials quickly warned people of the danger of potential aftershocks — which already began in the early afternoon in New Jersey, a report said.
The preliminary 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Lebanon, NJ, around 10:23 a.m., the first time a major temblor hit the city since 2011.according to the US Geological Survey.
“I was doing my morning reporting, and this safe in my office, that’s a ton, starts shaking. The whole room is shaking,” said Monique Horton, who works at the Balmain store on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. “I was just freaked out. Scary, really scary. I’m a New Yorker, my whole life, 36 years, never seen anything like it.”
At the United Nations in Midtown Manhattan, a Security Council address on the Israel-Gaza conflict was interrupted as cameras began shuddering.
The Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to expect flight delays in and out of the Big Apple because of the quake. Some flights bound for New York had already diverted to other airports, according to FlightAware.
The busy Holland Tunnel, too, was being temporarily shuttered for inspection, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.
Tremors could be felt as far north as New Paltz, New York, and as far south as Delaware.
US Geological Survey figures indicate the quake might have been felt by a staggering 42 million people.
“This is one of the largest earthquakes on the East Coast in the last century,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
The last time an earthquake with a magnitude close to, or above, 5 struck near New York City was back in 1884, the USGS said. That quake appeared to have been centered in Brooklyn.
A more minor quake was last felt in the city in 2011 and started in Virginia.
An aftershock Friday occurred in Bedminister, NJ, about two hours after the quake in Lebanon, according to the local Patch.
Both Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams said there were no initial reports of injuries or damage from Friday’s quake, but warned New Yorkers to be wary of possible aftershocks.
“We are always concerned about aftershocks after an earthquake but New Yorkers should go about their normal day,” Hizzoner said.
“Earthquakes don’t happen every day in New York so this can be extremely traumatic. I encourage New Yorkers to check on their loved ones to make sure that they are fine.”
City and state officials said there were no reported infrastructure issues as a result of the quake, noting that all major bridges and tunnels had been inspected.
“At this point… we’ve not identified any life-threatening situations, but we are certainly asking our local law enforcement and emergency services teams to be on guard for that as well,” Hochul said.
“But again, we are going to be reviewing all potentially vulnerable infrastructure sites throughout the state of New York that is critically important in the aftermath of an event like this.”
“It’s been a very unsettling day to say the least,” she said, adding she had been in communication with the White House. “Everyone should continue to take this seriously.”
Still, reports of the quake sparked a flurry of memes and jokes on social media, with the Empire State Building’s official X account jumping into the fray, quipping, “I AM FINE.”
“We survived the NYC earthquake. We will rebuild,” one user wrote alongside a photo of a fallen trash can.
“As New York was hit by an earthquake, I couldn’t help but wonder, were the tecnotic [sic] plates as unstable as my history with Big?” another wrote, riffing off Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw.
“Did we shake or were we shook?” another user posted on X alongside footage of Oprah.
But residents all over the tri-state area — and beyond — were still rattled.
Kelly Shone, a mom of two who works nights in Newark, Del., said she felt a “slight rumbling” while in bed Friday morning.
“I thought it was my husband walking heavily downstairs at first,” Shone told The Post.
“Oh, my God! I jumped and started looking out my windows. That was scary!” said Traci Slade, a 50-year-old mom of two and software insurance employee who felt the quake at her home in Clifton, NJ.
Panicked workers evacuated some buildings in Queens in the aftermath, including paralegal Felicia Alfred, who said, “We thought the building was going to collapse on us.”
U.S. job growth was strong last month, and the unemployment rate fell slightly. But wage growth remained contained, underscoring the growing belief among economists and policymakers that the country can keep adding jobs without fanning inflation.
U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 303,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported on Friday, significantly more than the 200,000 economists expected. The unemployment rate slipped to 3.8%, versus February’s 3.9%, in line with expectations.
Average hourly earnings in March rose 0.3% from the previous month. That put them up 4.1% from a year earlier, marking the smallest on-the-year gain since June 2021.
Stocks edged up following the report, and Treasury yields moved higher.
Investors have been on edge recently over economic data suggesting that Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts might not be imminent. A stronger-than-expected labor market could feed into those concerns—first because increased spending power for consumers could fuel inflation, and second because a strong labor market gives the central bank more leeway to wait before cutting rates.
The Fed is mandated to keep employment as strong as possible while keeping inflation under control. Balancing those objectives has put the central bank in a difficult position as it mulls cutting interest rates this year: Cut too soon, or by too much, and inflation could heat back up all over again. Wait too long, and the strain of high rates could damage the job market, pushing the economy into a recession.
The labor market has continued to add jobs over the past year despite high interest rates. At the same time, the unemployment rate has drifted up and wage gains have cooled. In March of last year, the unemployment rate was 3.5%.
Those dynamics have defied the conventional wisdom that, for inflation to cool, job creation would need to dramatically slow down.
Lately many economists and even Fed officials have come to believe that, in part as a result of immigration, the supply of available workers has increased. If that is right, the number of jobs can grow faster.
Supply alone isn’t enough to generate job gains, however; there has to be demand. At the moment, it still looks as if there is plenty of that. Layoff activity remains low, and the number of unfilled jobs is high, with the Labor Department reporting earlier this week that there were 8.8 million job openings as of the end of February. The job-opening rate, or openings as a share of filled and unfilled positions, was 5.3%. That has fallen over the past year, but in prepandemic 2019—a period of strength for the job market—that ratio averaged 4.5%.
But the share of people quitting their jobs each month has fallen to prepandemic levels, which indicates that the intensity with which businesses were hiring away workers from each other has subsided. Moreover, the private-sector job market has been drawing most of its strength from just two broad sectors—private education and healthcare, and leisure and hospitality.
Private education and healthcare added 88,000 jobs last month, while leisure and hospitality added 49,000. Combined, the two have accounted for 1.5 million of the 2.9 million jobs the U.S. has gained in the past year.
Economists at Bank of America call those sectors “high touch.” Much of the work must be done in person, and a lot of it—such as waiting tables or working in a hospice—entails face-to-face interactions.
High-touch employment fell sharply when the pandemic hit, and even now, four years later, appears low. Relative to the trend during the five years before the pandemic, there are some two million fewer jobs in those sectors than might have been expected.
This raises a question, points out Bank of America economist Michael Gapen. “Should we expect employment in those sectors to return to their prior trend line? Or are there structural reasons to think maybe the employment gap will not close and therefore this catch-up effect could finish sooner?” he said.
He thinks the answer might be mixed. Lately, employment growth in leisure and hospitality has moderated. One reason why is that for some of those employers, business is still down—think restaurants near offices where many people are still working from home a few days a week. Another is that some businesses adopted practices when labor became short that probably won’t get undone. Lots of restaurants, for example, introduced QR codes in place of paper menus, allowing customers to place orders with their phones rather than waitstaff.
But for private education and healthcare, the story could be different. The loss of jobs these areas experienced when the pandemic hit was truly exceptional: Other than in 2020, employment in the sector has experienced near constant growth over the 85 years of available data. Moreover, the healthcare needs of an aging U.S. population will probably only grow. The sector is still about a million jobs short of its old trend. If that gap continues to narrow, as Gapen expects it will, it could help bolster job growth into next year.
