Big-name shows like Hamilton, Wicked, and The Lion King raised their curtains Tuesday for the first time since the pandemic began, as Broadway reopened at full capacity. But fans and performers were not the only ones excited for the return of the Great White Way — businesses surrounding the Midtown Manhattan theaters were as well, albeit with caution.
Alan Rosen, third-generation owner of Junior’s restaurant and bakery, was expecting a “big night” for his two locations in the Theater District.
“Broadway is just a barometer for New York City and it’s a barometer for our business as well,” he said, adding that business has already crept up 10 percent at the start of the month. “It’s important to us.”
Junior’s, a New York food and dessert staple shuttered its three NYC properties at the start of the pandemic. Its downtown Brooklyn location reopened last summer, and the two midtown properties only opened back up recently.
Aside from a fire that led to a nine-month closure of the Brooklyn location in 1981, Rosen said that in Junior’s nearly 71-year history it has not endured anything as it has over the last 18 months. Although he said he is still “a little concerned” about Covid’s impact, heading into the winter, Rosen said he is finding relief in the fact that business is much better than it has been, now down only 30 percent from pre-pandemic times.
“Hopefully there’s light at the end of this tunnel here and I’m looking forward to when we are 100 percent, not just in business but in our lives,” he said. “We’re looking forward to welcoming back all our guests, just very excited that we survived.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Broadway’s full return a “big night for New York City’s comeback” at a press briefing on Tuesday, noting that it is bringing back “a lot of jobs.”
“This is really, really exciting,” he said. “This is about who we are as New Yorkers. We are the arts and culture capital. Broadway, and all of the arts and culture of the city, express the life, the energy, the diversity, the spirit of New York City.”
New York City’s tourism industry has suffered greatly during the pandemic, contributing an estimated 75 percent less to the city’s economy in 2020 than it did in 2019, according to an April 2021 report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller. Industry employment decreased by 89,000 jobs, or by over 30 percent, in 2020 as well. A 10-year-streak of record tourist growth came to a halt last year, with only 22.3 million people visiting the city, a decrease of 67 percent compared to the year before, according to the report.
Foot traffic levels in the heart of the Theater District are recovering. Total retail chain foot traffic in the Times Square Alliance Business Improvement District, an area that stretches from West 53rd Street down to West 40th Street, recovered 51 percent in August 2021 compared to August 2019, according to a report from foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai. More specifically, dining establishment foot traffic recovered 55 percent, while hotel foot traffic recovered 61 percent for the same comparison period.
