According to a survey by the Partnership for NYC, 62% of Manhattan office workers are working remotely on a typical day and only 8% are working in person five days a week. Which pretty much aligns with my firm’s experience – only a very small number of people want to commute five days a week, though I think that on any given day more than half will be in the office in Manhattan. And not because of crime or homelessness, as the companies surveyed think – because it is a better way to work.

“The longer people worked remotely, the longer they wanted to continue to work remotely,” said Kathy Wylde, the CEO of the Partnership for New York City

Wylde is absolutely right, though obviously she thinks this is a bad thing. Not mentioned is what the rest of the New York City looks like – judging by street and restaurant traffic in Williamsburg, a lot of people do seem to be very happy working remote or hybrid. Maybe instead of making Manhattan the way it was we should figure out what it could be?