NEW YORK — Andrew Yang appealed to fans of the Great White Way on Monday, announcing his plan to revive the theater district and bring tourists back to New York.
"I will more than quintuple the city's investment in tourism so that people around the world know that the city is open and that Broadway is open," Yang said Monday, speaking to an audience at Greenroom 42, where Lillias White’s cabaret is currently showing.
What You Need To Know
- Andrew Yang released his plan to bring back Broadway which includes a massive ad campaign and addressing quality of life concerns in the Theater District.
- The city's arts, entertainment and recreation sector plummeted by 66% from Dec. 2019 to Dec. 2020
- Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was endorsed by Rep. Tom Suozzi
- Adams is promising to offer small business loans, suspend the commercial rent tax, eliminate fees for starting small businesses
According to data the Yang campaign compiled, the city's arts, entertainment, and recreation sector plummeted by 66% from December 2019 to December 2020, and more than 12,600 direct jobs and 74,500 indirect jobs have been put at risk.
Yang's proposal includes a plan to address quality of life issues in the area surrounding the Theater District and working with the city's tourism office to create a marketing campaign appealing to tourists.
"We're going to address the quality of life issues that make people think New York is not open, the basics like trash pickup, but also addressing street homelessness," Yang said.
Yang, who could potentially make history as the city's first Asian American mayor, also rallied with other Asian American candidates running for public office in a show of strength against a recent wave of hate crimes against the Asian community.
The group rode the subway at Canal Street in a show of support for the Asian American community.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was outside Tony's Beechhurst Deli in Whitestone, pledging to bring back small businesses and to protect the middle class that he thinks is being ignored outside Manhattan.
"When the skyscrapers come up, the hopes and dreams of the middle class in America cannot come down. This is what New York is about," Adams said.
Adams, who highlighted his time as a police officer and his Queens roots, was also endorsed by Rep. Tom Suozzi, who represents parts of Queens and Long Island.
"He gets New York, he's born and bred in New York," Suozzi told NY1. "I think Eric understands the middle class and he's paying attention more than other candidates are. He knows that there are a lot of working people in the middle just trying to get by, hoping that the city stays strong, stays safe, stays clean."
Adams is promising to offer small business loans, suspend the commercial rent tax, and eliminate fees for starting small businesses.
It's a battle for relevance in some of the most important sectors of the city. Yang is appealing to big industries, and Adams to blue collar New Yorkers and the middle class. Both groups are worried about quality of life.
"We can’t go backwards. We know about the days of almost 2,000 homicides a year, we thought we could not live safely in our city." Adams said.
Both Yang and Adams have made overtures to outer-borough communities. But in recent days, Yang has focused his plans on recovery while promising to work with the private sector. Adams, for his part, has been slowly building support among local leaders away from Manhattan and the high rises of Midtown.
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