Tourists Are Skipping Manhattan In Favor Of Brooklyn, Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY — Tourists finally appear to taking some age-old travel advice from locals: skip Times Square and go to the Brooklyn Bridge instead.

That's a major takeaway from a new study of New York City's population and domestic tourism numbers by Placer.ai, a firm that analyzes foot traffic data.

Manhattan's tourism numbers in June were down 14 percent compared to the same point in 2019, the study found.

"We found that while Manhattan is struggling to maintain its pre-pandemic levels of domestic tourism, Brooklyn has experienced (year-over-three-year) domestic tourism growth every month this year," the study states.

Brooklyn saw double-digit increases in foot traffic every month from January to May compared to the same point in 2019, according to the study.

The numbers dipped slightly in June, but were still 5 percent higher than the same month in 2019, the study found.

And what accounted for Brooklyn's popularity? Unsurprisingly for New Yorkers, the study attributed it to bang for tourists' bucks.

"Brooklyn is a much more affordable destination than Manhattan, which could explain some of the disparity," the study states. "But the increase in domestic tourism to Brooklyn can also be attributed to former residents who are now regularly returning to their old haunts to shop, eat, or visit friends."

But it wasn't all good news for Brooklyn in the study.

Brooklyn has fewer residents than it did in 2019, a change that the study linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

As of June, its population was down 4 percent compared to the same month in 2019, according to the study.

By contrast, Manhattan's population appears to have rebounded from its "ghost town" days early in the pandemic, the study found. In the first half of 2022, Manhattan's population was effectively the same as the level in the same period in 2019, according to the study.

"Foot traffic data confirms that Manhattan’s residents have returned home," the study states.

Read the full study by Placer.ai here.