Thomas-Henry questions whether small businesses felt the $2 billion impact
Thomas-Henry says headline economic activity does not show who benefited. She asks whether restaurant owners in Corona, small businesses in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Southeast Queens saw new customers.
Today, the administration announced that the World Cup generated an estimated $2 billion in economic activity for New York City.
That is significant, and it gives us an important starting point for today's conversation.
But in a city as large as New York, headline economic activity alone does not tell us who actually benefited from it.
The question before us today is, did New Yorkers feel it?
Did the restaurant owner in Corona see new customers come through their doors?
Did the small business in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, or Southeast Queens get a piece of that $2 billion?
And after the crowds went home, did those businesses walk away stronger than they were before?