Chicken Littles in NYC sound the alarm once more following major setback for Trump

Brad Lander, City Comptroller and potential mayoral candidate, has raised concerns about the potential “significant threats” to New York City in a second Trump term. These warnings are reminiscent of those issued by Bill de Blasio in 2017.

In 2017, NYC & Co., under de Blasio’s leadership, predicted that Trump’s travel ban and related rhetoric would lead to the cancellation of 300,000 tourism visits from abroad, impacting Broadway and the hospitality industry. However, these predictions turned out to be false.

Nearly a year later, de Blasio announced record tourism numbers in 2017, with 49.7 million domestic and 13.1 million international visitors, marking all-time highs and a 3.8% increase from the previous year.

The Broadway League reported that the 2017-18 season grossed $1.7 billion, with theater attendance nearing 14 million, up from $1.45 billion in revenue and 13 million attendees in 2016-17.

Currently, Lander’s concerns revolve around the potential threat to federal funding that supports the nonprofit-industrial complex relied upon by Democrats for political support.

While these concerns are raised, New Yorkers are waiting for Lander’s assessment of the impact of criminal justice reforms and sanctuary city laws, which, along with the Biden migrant crisis, have led to increased criminal activity in neighborhoods and commercial areas.

It is clear that everyday New Yorkers have not suffered under Trump administration policies. The economic challenges faced by the city were a result of state criminal justice reforms in 2019, extended COVID lockdowns by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the influx of asylum seekers welcomed by Biden. While Trump may pose a threat to Lander’s political support system, his policies are not a threat to NYC.