Retail Surges In Astoria, Amid Declines In Manhattan: Study

ASTORIA-LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Commercial foot traffic on two of northwest Queens' major thoroughfares increased this summer as the retail market in the outer boroughs bounces back from the coronavirus crisis, according to a new report.

Steinway Street and Queens Boulevard were singled out in a study of this summer's real estate market, which found that shops located in residential parts of Queens and Brooklyn have fared far better in their pandemic recovery than storefronts in office-dependent areas of Manhattan.

Both of the Queens corridors had a vacancy rate of under 15 percent, according to the study, in contrast to strips of Manhattan, where upwards of 20 percent of storefronts stood vacant.

Of the 122 shops surveyed on Steinway Street, only 16 were empty, amounting to a 13.1 percent vacancy rate, the study found.

Similarly, at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and Skillman Avenue in Long Island City, 18 of the 121 shops surveyed were empty, with a slightly higher vacancy rate of 14.8 percent.

On corridors near Grand Central and Midtown East in Manhattan, by contrast, a whopping 93 of 311 storefronts were empty, the study found, amounting to a nearly 30 percent vacancy rate.

"The pandemic touched every corner of retail in New York City, but the impact was highly uneven, the study concludes, adding that residential neighborhoods, including Astoria and Park Slope in Brooklyn, may "actually be capturing upstream benefits as the recovery gains tentative momentum."

The report, which refers to the entire 2.4-mile long stretch of Steinway Street, stands in contrast to previous studies, which have found that parts of the corridor have higher vacancy rates than the rest of Astoria — a finding that some locals attribute to real estate speculation, to this day.

Read the full study here.