The COVID-driven rush of New Yorkers into Florida has become a stampede — for ever and ever.
A record-breaking variety of Empire State residents switched their driver’s licenses to the Sunshine State model final month, in response to a Submit evaluation of Florida Division of Freeway Security and Motor Autos knowledge.
A complete of 5,838 New Yorkers made the swap in August — the very best recorded quantity for a single month in historical past, the numbers present.
12 months thus far, 41,885 New Yorkers have handed over their licenses after transferring south, a torrid pace that’s pointing to a brand new annual report.
Some observers had speculated that the outbound circulation would ease with COVID receding and cities opening again up.
However the newest figures recommend in any other case.
Famend designer Alvin Valley moved his main residence to Palm Seashore through the pandemic and stated the continued inflow has been staggering.
“First it was the billionaires,” he stated. “Then it was the wealthy following behind them. Now you have got the center class.”
Valley, who has already opened one Palm Seashore boutique and has one other within the works, stated the Florida flight has been pushed largely by high quality of life considerations.
“Numerous households simply started to really feel like New York was turning into unlivable,” Valley stated. “Particularly for youthful {couples} with children of their thirties and forties. They don’t wish to get on the subway. It’s a security difficulty, it’s a faculties difficulty.”
A retired NYPD Sergeant who moved together with his household to Jacksonville final 12 months instructed the Submit that New Yorkers nonetheless have a buffet of causes to bid farewell.
John Macari blamed COVID-19 mandates, rising crime and unappealing faculties for the continued departures.
He argued that vaccine mandates for public sector workers left hundreds of working class New Yorkers disillusioned with metropolis authorities and eyeballing the exits.
“Couple that with the rise in crime and 0 competence from our elected officers and lots of people simply don’t see a future in New York Metropolis for themselves,” Macari stated.
The Brooklyn native, who runs a Jacksonville livery service staffed by retired NYPD cops and hosts a podcast featuring ex-officers, stated he talks to associates day by day who need out.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has leveraged the state’s newfound reputation, utilizing it as a political bludgeon in his running feuds with New York and California officers.
Acknowledging the Florida drain in April, Mayor Eric Adams deployed digital billboards within the Sunshine State to woo New Yorkers again to their native terrain.
License switching suggests a everlasting or prolonged transfer and serves as a proxy indicator of home migration tendencies. Figures for what number of Floridians have swapped their licenses for New York ones weren’t instantly obtainable.
California additionally set a brand new excessive for license exchanges with Florida in August, passing the three,000 mark for the primary time, logging 3,059 swaps.
The identical utilized to New Jersey final month, which noticed a report 3,259 license switches.
A slew of different states — together with Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania — all set new data for Florida driver’s license functions, the information exhibits.
Florida has obtained 321,881 out-of-state license commerce requests in 2022.
