Almost 60% of New York City registered voters agree with the idea that their family would have a better future if they left the city permanently, according to a new poll published Wednesday.
The survey from political consultants Fontas Advisors and polling firm Core Decision Analytics adds to a growing body of evidence that New Yorkers are preoccupied with rising crime and public safety, and want something done about it if they're to stay here.
Asked to agree or disagree with the statement "My family would have a better future if we left NYC permanently," some 25% said they strongly agree and another 34% said they somewhat agree.
By demographics, 65% or more all of respondents under age 49 said they agreed to some extent with the sentiment. Just 49% of white respondents concurred, but more than 60% of all Black, Hispanic and Asian voters in the poll agreed.
Geographically, the sentiment was strongest in the Bronx and Queens, where 70% and 65%, respectively, agreed they'd be better off leaving. Some 68% of those with children in the home also agreed they'd do better elsewhere.
Less than half of respondents (46 percent) believed that the city is heading in the right direction, as 54 percent said it was on the wrong track. But Mayor Eric Adams brushed off the poll for the most part.
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"This is an Arnold Schwarzenegger moment: They’ll be back," Adams said. "Our city is coming back. But as we come back, we cannot have a set back."
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On Wednesday, the mayor stressed a key solution: economic development. As part of that effort, Adams stood in front of a Brooklyn warehouse covered in scaffolding, promising that it will be completely redone and filled with workers by 2024, as city human resources employees get shifted from their Downtown Brooklyn offices to a new hub steps from the Broadway Junction subway in East New York.
"That's a huge change from having to go downtown. We will have the services where people need them," Adams said.
The online survey of 840 registered voters was conducted March 28-31 and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
