Poll: Solid majority of NYC residents would rather live elsewhere

AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa

With the arrival of a new mayor and the restoration of one of the city’s elite law enforcement units, you might think that things would be looking up in New York City, at least a bit, anyway. There have also been some efforts to clean up the subways and remove some of the homeless encampments. Surely these must be encouraging signs for the denizens of Gotham, giving them a more positive view of the future. But at least according to a new poll that just came out this week, the good news hasn’t been good enough for a majority of New Yorkers, or at least it hasn’t sunk in yet. When asked if their families would be better off if they moved somewhere else, nearly 60 percent of them agreed with that idea. This may explain the city’s steady decline in population growth rates over the past several years. (NY Post)

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With violent crime on the rise and showing no signs of a letup, a majority of voters said their family would be better off if they fled New York City, a new survey reveals.

The poll, released Wednesday by Fontas Advisors/Core Decision Analytics, presented voters with this statement: “My family would have a better future if we left New York City permanently.”

The poll found 59% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement, while 41% somewhat or strongly disagreed.

It should be disturbing enough for the municipal government that 59 percent of residents either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement, “My family would have a better future if we left New York City permanently.” But that figure represents a 12% jump from when residents were asked the same question one year ago, in April of 2021. And as you will recall, things were going none too well at the time. And yet people are less hopeful about New York’s future today than they were then. And they don’t seem to foresee that changing, either. 54% said the city is on the wrong track.

There was some good news for Mayor Adams, however. Many of the policies he’s been putting in place that have been heavily criticized by BLM and social justice advocates are wildly popular with most residents of the Big Apple. Here are the approval numbers for some of his major initiatives.

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  • Increasing penalties for gun traffickers: 95%
  • Support giving judges more discretion to impose bail 92%
  • Endorse the creation of the NYPD’s new anti-gun unit 85%
  • Approve of removing homeless encampments 80%
  • Remove homeless individuals from the subway system 77%

Those numbers are pretty much off the charts. Any members of the City Council or others thinking of running for election should look long and hard at those figures before they decide to endorse the so-called social justice agenda. Because the voters of New York City just aren’t having it.

That same theme showed up when New Yorkers were asked about their biggest concerns leading them to think they might be better off elsewhere. The only two concerns that dominated the list were crime and the cost of living, coming in at 60%. Nothing else even came close, and no other issues rose above 10%. Reopening the economy was the top issue for 10%, while 9% said homelessness. 8% were most worried about housing and 7% chose health care access. Showing just how much people have fled from the BLM agenda, just 3% cited “police reform and accountability” as their top issue.

So many of these other issues reflect what has made up the bulk of the Democrats’ agenda in Washington since Joe Biden took office. This poll is yet another data point indicating precisely how badly Democrats have failed in reading the room. Their agenda is not the agenda of most of the country. And keep in mind that this poll was taken in what is considered to be among the biggest liberal bastions in the nation, where Republicans are basically on the endangered species list. Is it any wonder that political analysts are still almost all talking about a “red tsunami” in November? If your agenda is being trashed in the Big Apple, just imagine how it’s going over in the suburbs and the heartland.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 20, 2024
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