Restaurants Filling Storefronts in NY

A surge of food and drink businesses, led by Mexican, Japanese and Caribbean kitchens, have played a big role in New York’s storefront revival, The New York Times reports. The newspaper based that conclusion on a new study released by New York’s Department of City Planning.

That report found about 16,000 of the city’s 143,000 storefronts were empty in the third quarter of this year, a vacancy rate of just above 11%. The share of empty stores has fallen citywide for four straight quarters.

“It’s remarkable how few storefronts are vacant today,” said Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of the Center for an Urban Future, a public-policy think tank that reviewed the study. “And so much of it is about food coming to the rescue.”

New York has long been a culinary destination, but after four years of stark job losses in other forms of retail, as apparel and electronics sellers have closed, the city is now — perhaps more than ever — relying on dining to brighten its darkened storefronts and bolster the economy, the Times reports.

The shift has been underway for at least the past couple of decades; from 2000 to 2023, the number of restaurants in the city nearly doubled, climbing to over 21,170, according to an analysis of data from the New York State Department of Labor. During the same time, there has been a drop in nearly all other types of storefronts, including retail, pet care and professional services. Since 2020, there were 2,200 more closures than openings in so-called dry goods, which include clothing, furniture and beauty products, according to the report.

That shift stems from a persistent change in the way many New Yorkers live and travel, officials say. The share of residents who work primarily from home has risen to 13%, more than double the rate in 2019, the report said. “Clearly, people were spending more time and money where they live,” Bowles said.

Click here for more from the Times story.