Broadway Shows Suffering as Suburban Tourists Avoid New York City Due to High Crime

NYPD car is seen at Broadway at Midtown Manhattan in New York, United States, on October 2
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Broadway shows are reportedly taking a financial hit as tourists from the suburbs are increasingly avoiding New York City due to high levels of crime.

New York metro area suburbanites accounted for a mere 14 percent of the overall Broadway ticket sales for the 2022-2023  season — the lowest number on record in the 23 years the Broadway League has tracked such data, according to a New York Post report.

Half of suburbanites who have not returned to Broadway cited “concerns about safety” as a primary reason why they see fewer shows, according to a survey by the marketing and advertising firm Situation Group.

Slightly more than 40 percent of suburbanites reportedly agreed with the statement, “I travel to Manhattan for pleasure less often than I did in 2019.”

Assaults in Democrat-controlled New York rose 6 percent and car thefts climbed 15 percent in 2023. While overall crime was down for the year, the city is still suffering from widespread lawlessness thanks largely to the left’s soft-on-crime policies. New York saw major crimes spike 22 percent in 2022.

Meanwhile, more of New York City’s police officers are reportedly heading for the exit, with resignations before retirement spiking across the department.

As Breitbart News reported, a recent study found that more than 72 percent of New York City violent-crime suspects who are freed without bail go on to commit more crimes.

Broadway shows sold a total of 12.3 million tickets for the 2022-2023 season — down 17 percent from the 2018-2019 season, which was the last full season before the COVID pandemic.

In recent months, musicians for the long-running Broadway musical of Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin have been targeted for violent assault outside their respective New York theaters.

Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com

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