In a city where every square foot counts, more retail spaces are being left vacant as online shopping and rising rents pressure shopkeepers, an analysis by the city comptroller’s office found, the Wall Street Journal reported. New York City’s retail vacancy rate increased from 4 percent in 2007 to 5.8 percent in 2017, the latest year for which data was available, according to a report released on Wednesday by Comptroller Scott Stringer. The amount of vacant retail space in the city roughly doubled over the same period, with 11.8 million square feet left empty by 2017. Vacancies rose across the city but most dramatically in outer boroughs with suburban-style shopping malls, Stringer’s office found. Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx had retail vacancy rates above the citywide average.
