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Shooting won’t deter tourists? He’s nuts: staffs

By REUVEN FENTON, JULIA MARSH and KATE SHEEHY Ksheehy@nypost.com

Mayor de Blasio on Monday denied that the brazen Times Square shooting would hurt tourism — but workers at the Crossroads of the World said their businesses are already taking a hit.

Three innocent bystanders, including a 4-year-old girl, were shot in broad daylight on Broadway Saturday, and Hizzoner was asked at a press conference whether the incident would discourage tourists from coming to Times Square.

“I don’t think it will, honestly,’’ claimed de Blasio, who has also insisted the subways are not dangerous amid surging crime. “This is a very safe place.”

Some Times Square workers were incredulous.

“You think the tourists are going to come back after a f--king shooting? If you were a tourist, would you come back after what happened Saturday?” a waiter at Prime Catch on West 46th Street asked The Post.

“Ciao bello. We got some reservations on Mother’s Day, but it wasn’t what it should have been,” said the employee, noting that the eatery had 15 reserved tables this time last week — and none now.”

“You have a shooting in Times Square — who’s safe? Where’s the police? How did this happen in Times Square?”

A worker at A2Z Smoke Shop on Eighth Avenue said bluntly, “It’s gone completely to s–t out there.”

“Times Square, Eighth Avenue, it’s all s- -t,” he said. “The homeless are everywhere, the stabbings, and now this shooting in broad daylight? Of course foot traffic is low.

“The mayor thinks everything is fine? Of course it’s fine. He has his own security. I don’t

have security.

“I’m afraid to even take the subway, and I only live 40 blocks from here. I take the money I get from tips to pay for a cab home.”

Steve Tommy, general manager of Havana Central Restaurant &

Bar on West 46th Street, said his establishment had only one reservation for lunch on Monday, compared with about half a dozen last week and no walk-ins — when the place should have been relatively crowded with them.

“We’re starting to get back the older crowd, the regulars, and of course, they’re the first ones to say, ‘Oh, no, too dodgy,’ ” Tommy said.

“On Sunday, which is Mother’s Day, one of the busiest days of the year, there were so many cancellations because people didn’t feel comfortable coming to Times Square. know we’ll survive this, but what else are they going to throw at us? . . . We’re going back 30 years as far as the crime is concerned.”

Local businesses were just starting to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic when the shooting happened, noted another eatery worker.

“Now that we’ve got the COVID under control, this will be a major problem going forward,” Ciro Heta, manager of Tony’s Di Napoli on West 43rd Street, said of the city’s reputation when it comes to crime.

“New York’s theaters, stadiums, museums are only just starting to open, but who wants to come to New York when something like this happens in the middle of the day?”

But Tom Harris, acting president of the Times Square Alliance — which promotes business in the area — seemed more optimistic.

“While this weekend’s incident was terrible and proves that we have work to do, we are confident that Times Square will remain safe and secure for people to visit as the City starts to reopen,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

CITY IN CRISIS

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2021-05-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/281513639033440

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