Employment

• Private sector jobs in New York City fell by 8,600 in September 2011 after a decrease of 14,400 in August.
• In the same period, government jobs in the City fell by 4,800 resulting in a total decrease of 13,400 total private and public sector jobs.
• Since September 2010, private sector employment has risen by 40,100 jobs or 1.3 percent.
• The City’s unemployment rate remained at 8.7 percent between August and September.
• Between August and September 2011, the number of employed City residents rose by 12,000 and the number of unemployed City residents rose by 3,400.

Bicycling in New York City

• In recent years, New York City has implemented and planned numerous policies and programs to encourage bike use among commuters, while also improving safety among cyclists. These programs include, among others, the addition of over 300 miles of bike lanes and 4.9 miles of dedicated bike paths throughout the five boroughs, the introduction of 20 sheltered bike parking structures, the Bike Share Program, and the Bike Access to Office Building Law which requires landlords in large buildings to provide secure parking for bikes.
• In 2010, the number of City residents cycling to work was double that of 2006 and more than three times its level in 2000. At the same time, the injury and fatality rate among cyclists in 2010 was one third that of 2000.¹
• Based on statistical analysis of data from the 2010 American Community Survey, which asks respondents to indicate their primary means of commuting to work, it is possible to examine how bike ridership in New York City compares to other large cities taking into account factors such as availability of alternative modes of transportation (e.g., public transit), demographic characteristics, climate, proximity to work, and bike-friendly policies.

• As of 2010 New York City ranked 40th among the nation’s 100 largest cities with 28,000 or approximately 0.8 percent out of 3.6 million workers reporting that they used bikes as their primary means to commute to work. With five cities in the top 10 and seven in the top 15, the West Coast dominated the rankings, though cities in northern states like Madison and Minneapolis also figured prominently.
• Excluding workers who chose public transit or walking in 2010, New York City’s share of bicycle commuters was 2.3%, earning the City the 13th spot among the largest 100 U.S. cities.
• The other two most influential factors for the share of bicycle commuters were bike-friendly policies and demographic characteristics. New York City ranked highly in terms of bike friendly policies. The City was rated as the 8th most bike-friendly city in the nation based on a 2010 survey conducted by Bicycling Magazine², looking at criteria such as presence and number of segregated bike lanes, municipal bike racks and bike boulevards.

• Bicycle commuters tend to be concentrated among males between 25 and 44 years old. This is not as dominant an age group in New York City. Overall New York City ranked 30th in terms of the percent of overall male population in this critical age group for bike ridership, while six of the top 10 cities for bicycle commutes were also in the top 10 for this criteria.
• Neither climate nor proximity to work was a good predictor of bike ridership. Cold snowy cities like Minneapolis and Boston were at the top of the ranking, as were warm sunny cities such as Tucson and Albuquerque. Although survey data indicates that proximity to work is an important factor, the availability of other transit options for short distances likely offsets some of the impact on bicycle commutes.

Real Estate and Construction

Manhattan Office Market

• In October 2011, both the Manhattan Class A direct vacancy rate and average rental rate remained stable, at 8.0 percent and $66 PSF, respectively.
• In the same month, the Downtown Class A direct vacancy rate fell to 8.1 percent and the rental rate remained at $44 PSF.
• The Manhattan Class A sublease vacancy rate in October rose to 1.9 percent from 1.8 percent in September.

Construction

For the twelve months ending September 2011:

• Building projects (including new, additions and alterations) that started construction in NYC increased by 33.5 percent and infrastructure (non-building) project starts fell by 7.7 percent from the twelve months ending September 2010.
• Planned space for building project starts rose by 7.4 percent from the same period in 2010.
• 2,633 residential building projects with 10,749 units of housing started construction, increases of 26.7 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively over the period.

Tourism, Travel, and Transit

Transit Ridership

• Total ridership on MTA subways, trains and buses in September 2011 was 222.1 million, an increase of 0.7 percent from September 2010.
• Subway ridership in September 2011 was 138.3 million, an increase of 2.7 percent from September 2010.

Tourism and Travel

• In August 2011, 9.9 million passengers flew into and out of the region's airports, a decrease of 3.6 percent from August 2010.
• Domestic air carriers accounted for 6.3 million passengers, a 3.8 percent decrease from the same month last year.
• 3.6 million passengers traveled with international air carriers in August 2011, a 3.2 percent decrease from August 2010.

Broadway Ticket Sales

• Total Broadway attendance was approximately 898,000 during the four weeks ending October 30, 2011, down 8.6 percent from the same period last year.
• Broadway revenue during this period was about $83.7 million, up 3.6 percent from last year.

Hotel Occupancy

• In September 2011, the average daily hotel room rate was $341, a 6.6 percent increase from September 2010.
• Hotel occupancy was 90.2 percent in September 2011, up from 88.7 percent in September 2010.
• The average daily hotel room rate increased the most in lowest-priced hotels (charging below $200 per night).