Mayor Bill de Blasio was filmed walking away from a New York City baker pleading for help during the city’s economic downturn sparked by the coronavirus.
“We’ve been taking a hit since January. We lost our Chinese New Year, our busiest day of the year of our community. The most festive holiday that we have,” local bakery manager, identified as Patrick Mock, told de Blasio Wednesday in an exchange that was caught on camera.
“Then COVID happened,” he said. “Now, we’re all hurting so bad. What we need is people’s confidence.”
De Blasio then began to turn away, and someone in footage of the conversation can be heard saying, “It’s just a difference of opinion, that’s the bottom line.”
“We need help, we need more confidence,” Mock continued.
“That’s very unfortunate,” the mayor responded as he turns his back on Mock.
“That’s very unfortunate,” responds the mayor as he turns his back on the young man.
— elizabeth meryl rosner (@elizameryl) August 11, 2020
Mock said after the exchange that the mayor “brushed me off,” adding that de Blasio was only in Chinatown for a “photo op mission,” according to the New York Post’s Elizabeth Meryl Rosner.
.@NYCMayor “brushed me off,” said the bakery manager. And added de Blasio was only in Chinatown today for a “photo op mission.”
— elizabeth meryl rosner (@elizameryl) August 12, 2020
Retail owners and residents have been fleeing the city in recent months, sparked by coronavirus lockdowns and the resulting financial downturn.
Big retail chains such as J.C. Penny, Kate Spade, Subway, and Le Pain Quotidien have closed their locations in the heart of Manhattan for good, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Other large chains, such as Victoria’s Secret, TGI Friday’s, and Gap, still have their Manhattan locations but are keeping them closed even as they reopen locations in other areas.
Locals are also packing their bags for the suburbs, citing coronavirus restrictions and an uptick in crime as reasons for their departure.
“People are fleeing the city in droves,” Moon Salahie, owner of Elite Moving & Storing in Yonkers, New York, told the New York Post. “The least movement would be the Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue crowds. Those people don’t have to leave because they have second homes.”
