NYP: Broadway sings New York’s blues as crime, costs slow post-COVID comeback

With the ridiculous ticket costs these days, it certainly feels as if people have lost their love of theatre. Inflation has taken its toll and it now seems like the Broadway bubble has popped. The general interest and financial disparity between long-runners and newer shows has worsened, and “sleeper hits” don’t seem to exist anymore post-COVID. We have tons and tons of entertainment options to choose from.

Even if something is done about all the NY crime, I don’t think the Main Stem can get back the sizable chunk of its crowd that it lost in the pandemic. Unfortunately, we may have already hit a post-pandemic peak.

stagepotato said: "8th Ave between Moynihan and the 40s has gotten considerably worse. It was bad before, but now it’s littered with homeless and drug addicts. Don’t come at me and say this isn’t true because I travel this street multiple times a month and see it every time. I agree the city needs to get rid of Adamsbut there’s other focus areas that need to be worked on as well."

Yeah - I’m never one to ever stray away from Broadway, but the walk to Penn from a show after 11pm seems to be getting seedier and more discomforting…and I literally work in an NJ inner city area.

Why N.Y.C. Hotel Rooms Are So Expensive Right Now
The average hotel room rate in the city is $301 a night, a record. A major reason: One of every five hotels is now a shelter, contributing to a shortage of tourist lodging.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/25/nyregion/hotels-prices-migrants-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.w00.XxGO.XCMtreiSDM9n&smid=url-share

When I do a full day in NYC and need somewhere to crash for an hour or so inside, I hang out on the 8th floor of the Marriot Marquis. I can charge my phone, use the bathroom, and fill up my water bottle. Their lobby is always packed regardless of the day of the week. The gloom and doom Faux News puts on the city hasn't worked much. I just don't think there's been a clear, big hit since HAMILTON to give Broadway some new buzz. Reminder, the last two Tony-winning Best Musicals didn't run long. If ILLINOISE wins, that'll continue. The big hits have been revivals since Broadway reopened.

Yeah. Even though it’s been years and I can’t remember any specifics right now I do remember thinking she would have been much better with what she was saying. But she’s not the Mayor so it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Without getting into off-topic politics, I will say that when you reduce supply (such as hotel rooms), prices go up. And while I feel very safe in the gayborhood along 9th Av between 43rd and 57th, I feel a very different vibe along 8th Av between 20th and 50th these days (and 9th Ave between 34th and 43rd) - lots of people acting up, behaving erratically and loitering. It's a very different vibe from the days I used to go to Big Cup by 8th and 22nd. There will always be some big-name hits that people will want to travel for, but for other shows, I can see them hurting.

The Big Cup!!!! I miss that place!

BorisTomashevsky said: "TheatreFan4 said: "I've walked through these areas at 3am in the morning and never had an issue. Could it be that shows are pricing an entire demographic out of their audiences? Noooo couldn't be that. People are far less likely to gamble on a show that's on average $150 a ticket."

The teacher who got stabbed also never had an issue until she got stabbed.

The “nEw YoRk Is SaFe!” screamers will justify their way around anything."

way less stabbing here than in red states but oh well (shrug)

ACL2006 said: "When I do a full day in NYC and need somewhere to crash for an hour or so inside, I hang out on the 8th floor of the Marriot Marquis. I can charge my phone, use the bathroom, and fill up my water bottle. Their lobby is always packed regardless of the day of the week. The gloom and doom Faux News puts on the city hasn't worked much. I just don't think there's been a clear, big hit since HAMILTON to give Broadway some new buzz. Reminder, the last two Tony-winning Best Musicals didn't run long. If ILLINOISE wins, that'll continue. The big hits have been revivals since Broadway reopened."

Yep, Broadway was on quite a tear pre-Covid with the phenomenon that was Hamilton immediately followed by the twin success of Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away followed two years later by Hadestown. It's possible that bubble of huge hit original musicals might have burst even without COVID. I can't think of many shows that have opened since the shutdown that might have been much bigger hits in the before times. Maybe Six? But it's not like shows like A Strange Loop or Kimberly Akimbo would have been blockbusters. Even still we've had MJ, Six, & Juliet and as you mentioned, a slew of revivals do very well for themselves. And Hell's Kitchen and/or The Outsiders could join that list too. There just hasn't been a Hamilton phenomenon or an Evan Hansen mini phenomenon since Broadway reopened.

Updated On: 6/3/24 at 01:14 AM

BorisTomashevsky said: "TheatreFan4 said: "I've walked through these areas at 3am in the morning and never had an issue. Could it be that shows are pricing an entire demographic out of their audiences? Noooo couldn't be that. People are far less likely to gamble on a show that's on average $150 a ticket."

The teacher who got stabbed also never had an issue until she got stabbed.

The “nEw YoRk Is SaFe!” screamers will justify their way around anything."

agreed

u can make statistics conclude anything u want to

while crime may be down from a 30 year high it is not low

ppl who have lived in the city for a long time are noticing that the streets and subways are seedier and more dangerous

even the touristy areas

also has anyone realized that perhaps it is a combination of factors

including outrageously high ticket prices overall

leading to megahits having the lions share and the crumbs for everyone else

on average new shows are having shorter runs than they used to

even mediocre shows would be able to limp along for several months

theres a reason why producers are lamenting the post CV so called recovery

an article is not a hit piece just because u dont like what it says or the facts it brings forward

sppunk said: "The fact she blames Biden for a lack of NYC hotel rooms isall one needs to know about her opinion."

Exactly. This conversation is happening for one reason only.

Violent crime is down. Period.

Broadway sales are down before pre-pandemic *like every theatre scene regionally across the country.* Sometimes that's related to the areas of town affected by covid, but sometimes not. A wildly misleading article with a specific motivation.

And Adams sucks. Could that federal investigation hurry up, please?