The Pandemic Sent Young New Yorkers Packing. Will They Return?

Already reeling under the enormous cost of the coronavirus response and a sustained shutdown, New York would face a blow in income and sales tax revenue.

It would be deprived of an educated, creative and determined demographic that also includes native New Yorkers and is pivotal to maintaining the city’s prosperity and growth in important new fields, including the technology sector.

Kaila Bernhardt, 26, fell in love with New York during a family trip when she was in second grade. She ventured into a bodega and was in awe of the array of products.

She and her boyfriend, Nik Nugnes, finally moved to Manhattan last August. But they recently packed up many of their belongings and moved to her parents’ home on Cape Cod.

Ms. Bernhardt, who works at a market research firm, had her salary cut shortly after the crisis started, and Mr. Nugnes’s company, a financial firm, is not rushing to bring its employees back to the office. Because of that, the couple have decided not to renew their lease.

“We’ve talked about moving back, but I guess that’s not set in stone,” Mr. Nugnes, 26, said. “We are bummed that just as we were starting our lives in New York, we were robbed of that experience.”

Their friends, Christa Montano and her fiancé, Tyler Wilmot, had begged them for years to join them in New York. But now they’re gone too. In March, Ms. Montano and Mr. Wilmot rented a car, stuffed clothes into a backpack and drove to her parents’ home in western Massachusetts.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-young-people.html