How the summer of 2021 will bring back New York City

Times Square Alliance President Tom Harris joins Yahoo Finance’s Seana Smith to discuss the reopening of New York City.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Well no major city has arguably been hit harder during the pandemic than New York. With the unemployment rate still well above 9% right now. With the city though now fully reopened and tourism slowly coming back, we are taking a closer look all day today and where New York's economic recovery stands. Let's bring in Yahoo Finance's Seana Smith who is leading that coverage for us today live from Times Square. With a special guest, Seana.

SEANA SMITH: Hey there, Akiko, let's put this all in perspective for our viewers. So we're right here live in Times Square. And just to talk about the economic impact of Times Square and what it means for the city and also really for the nation. It accounts for just a 0.1% of the land area in New York, but 7% of the workforce in New York City, 15% of the economic output. So we thought no better person to talk to you than Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance. And Tom, great to speak with you here. Times Square, very critical to the city's reopening. Just talk to us about how that's progressing so far and what you're seeing now as we head into the month of July.

TOM HARRIS: So we have said from the beginning that the city's not going to recover until Times Square recovers. And Times Square has been recovering. We've seen our pedestrian counts soar over the last couple of months. We averaged in March about 100,000 visitors to Times Square a day. And those numbers last week we had a couple of days with over 200,000 visitors. And our weekly average last week was 185,000. So Times Square is back. And we welcome all visitors to come and see what everyone thinks is so special about Times Square.

SEANA SMITH: So you've led this recovery effort here in Times Square. Just talk to us about how you've navigated this very challenging time of course with the rises and the falls of some of the COVID cases here in New York City and what that means for the future you think of Times Square.

TOM HARRIS: So our public safety team and our sanitation team has been in Times Square throughout the entire pandemic. We've kept the lights on for the essential workers who were here and who stayed in Times Square to help us all weather the pandemic. So we saw a lot of businesses at the height of the pandemic. 87% of our businesses are closed. Now over 60% of them are open. So we really have seen a resurgence.

We're not going to be back fully until Broadway's back, but Bruce is back on Broadway. And we're starting to see shows pick up in September. We've seen Caroline's the comedy club open. We have a burlesque show in Times Square. So there's a lot for people to do in Times Square. And you just have to come check out our website at tsq.org and you'll see all the great things that are happening in Times Square.

SEANA SMITH: You mentioned Broadway, we know that that's critical in order of bringing tourists back here to Times Square. So many people plan their trips around the shows that they're seeing. What are you doing to get the word out to tourists that Times Square is open, it's safe, and we're ready to welcome you?

TOM HARRIS: So the city has a great campaign. They're calling it the summer of '21. And we're inviting everyone to come in Times Square, come to New York City, come to Times Square. There's a lot to do even without Broadway. We have a lot of small scale programming we're going to be having beginning next Thursday with small scale performers in Times Square, Broadway buskers, we're going to have Jazz in Times Square. If you check out our website, there are a lot of businesses that have live performances that you can see and enjoy. And this is the place to see and be seen in New York City.

SEANA SMITH: What are you hearing from the business owners here in Times Square? Because as you mentioned, more and more are opening their doors. But they're still facing many challenges ahead. What kind of assistance do they need at this time in their recovery?

TOM HARRIS: So we're working very closely with our businesses with the New York City small business services to bring any aid to those businesses who have remained open. And we've also had 23 businesses open in Times Square, new businesses open during the pandemic. So that's just a show of the resilience of Times Square and indicative of the best is yet to come for Times Square.

SEANA SMITH: Tom, Times Square is a bellwether of many just in terms of what's working and what's not here in New York City. Just over the last couple of months, what would you say is the biggest success buoyancy or what have you learned that is working that you focus on during this recovery?

TOM HARRIS: So I think what we've tried to do is focus on letting people know that we're open, letting people know that with more people being vaccinated and I think we're past that we're into the Herd immunity part so it's safe, it's confident. I don't think six weeks ago people thought that we would be unmasked in public, yet here we are today. So I think we really have fallen off the cliff of towards recovery and the best is yet to come.

SEANA SMITH: And we have to bring up the two shootings that have taken place here in Times Square over the last couple of months. Of course, there's a safety concern here not only for people who live here, but of course for tourists who are coming in. How are you helping to reassure the public just that Times Square is safe now?

TOM HARRIS: Well, if you look around you'll see a large police presence in Times Square. The city recognizes almost after the second shooting I communicated with the mayor who recognized the value of making sure that the world knows that Times Square is open. Times Square is safe. And they deployed a lot of resources to Times Square. One shooting, one crime in Times Square is one too many. We've had some high profile incidents. We have the greatest police department in the world in New York City. And I am confident that they will restore order and keep everyone safe in Times Square.

SEANA SMITH: Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us today. Akiko, I'll send it back to you.