New Yorkers have been fleeing in droves since the COVID Crazy Show came to town.
The NY Times reported that by summer, five percent of NYC's population had already headed for the exit. Between March 1 to May 1, that amounted to about 420,000 of the nearly 8.4 million population. These came mostly from wealthier neighborhoods. SoHo, the West Village, Morningside Heights, the Upper East Side, the Financial District, Midtown, Gramercy and Brooklyn Heights all saw as much as a 40 percent residential decline.
Not so surprising, really, since it's usually the wealthy who can afford to hop on the COVID Caravan out of town.
"All of the things I loved about New York City kind of just disappeared because of COVID," Cassie Madden told ABC7 New York. So she packed up and headed to Tampa, FL.
By end of summer, the New York City vacancy rate hit a 14-year high.
And the exodus extends to all parts of the state. In August, CBS 6's Anne McCloy spoke to Mark Geddes, the owner of an Albany moving company, to ask how The COVID Crazy Show had impacted his business.
McCloy: Can you put a number on how much your business went up once the pandemic started?
Geddes: 35-40% increase in calls and requests.
McCloy: Where are they going?
Geddes: Florida! Florida, Florida, Florida.
In fact, Geddes reported that some 70% of his customers were heading to Florida.
But Florida is old news.
Orange is the new black, 40 is the new 30, and Serbia — SERBIA — is the new Florida.
Wait, come again?
Yep, as reported by the NY Post, "Serbia is a new, unlikely oasis for NYC residents fleeing the city."
"It reminds me of Williamsburg circa 2010," said ex-pat Davis Richardson, 27, who was looking to escape New York City a few months ago and wound up putting down roots in Serbia's capital city, Belgrade. I now pay half what I paid in New York during a pandemic to live out of a suite overlooking all of Belgrade ... [and hang out with] amazing people who want to go out to restaurants and talk about things other than politics."
Katka Lapelosová, a 33-year-old from Bed-Stuy, fell in love with the city after visiting in October.
"I went there initially just to get out of NYC but I ended up buying an apartment in Belgrade," said Katka Lapelosová, a 33-year-old from Bed-Stuy
She'll soon be moving into a $55,000 "tiny, cozy" one-bedroom apartment on a street she says reminds her of Park Avenue. You can't buy a parking space on Park Ave for $55,000!
Just how many have ditched the sunny sands of FL for the sophisticated, Old World feel of Serbia is a little unclear (yet as a Floridian, I can't help but cross my fingers that it's a lot!). But if air traffic is any indicator, it is definitely a growing trend.
Air Serbia reports flights from the US to Serbia have increased by more than a third since last year, up from 24 routes from October 2019 to 34 in October of this year.
But the unfortunate thing about the COVID Crazies is that it's as contagious as the virus itself (maybe more so!).
COVID cases are up in Serbia this week, so the Serbian government has ordered that "all services, including bars, restaurants, cafés, stores, supermarkets, shopping malls, theaters, and cinemas" be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., till "at least" December 1.
