Early in the pandemic, an existential question facing New York City was what would still attract people to neighborhoods like Times Square. As it turned out, the Palace Theater would symbolize a key piece of the answer: People come to New York to have fun. The more crowded Times Square becomes with visitors, the more off-putting it is for the white-collar office workers who now have the choice to work from home. More than 300,000 people are regularly walking through the neighborhood each day, about 20 percent below prepandemic levels, according to the Times Square Alliance, which represents the area’s businesses. Four months earlier, Michelle Go, a Deloitte employee, was pushed to her death on the subway tracks at the Times Square station.

Source: New York Times May 28, 2022 12:04 UTC