Trump: We have to straighten out our cities, they're a mess
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to City of New York Benevolent Association.
Start spreading the news: They're leaving "in droves."
New York City was in far better shape when he was campaigning for the White House in 2016 than it is today, President Trump lamented in a Twitter message Friday.
The president's tweet came amid media reports that residents have been fleeing the Big Apple.
“It was showing signs of future problems, but was so good when I left 4 years ago!” the president wrote.
Wealthy New Yorkers began leaving for their second homes in the suburbs and rural areas as the coronavirus overwhelmed the city in early spring -- but now many have started moving away for good, the New York Post reported this week.
NYC RELOCATIONS ACCELERATING AT 'SUBSTANTIAL' PACE, LOCAL MOVERS SAY
Moon Salahie, owner of Elite Moving & Storing in New York City, told the Post that 90% of his clients are moving to the suburbs.
“People are fleeing the city in droves,” he said. Many of his clients are families with young children concerned about the coronavirus possibly spreading in schools when classes resume.
Oz Moving told Fox Business it has seen a “drastic” increase in quote requests, around 30% year over year.
Ross Sapir, president of Roadway Moving, said for the last three months his company "couldn’t keep up with the demand.”
Many New Yorkers are moving to Florida, California, Texas and North Carolina, Fox Business reported.
A New York Post editorial that Trump retweeted in his post called the virus the “last straw" for those leaving.
"New Yorkers are fed up with the shootings and lootings, homelessness on the streets, sub-par online schools, sky-high taxes and the sheer obliviousness of pols like Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo," the editorial said.
New York City's Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, left, was a target of a blistering editorial about the Big Apple that President Trump retweeted Friday.
Cuomo, a Democrat, acknowledged the problem during a news conference earlier this month.
“We’re trying to get people to come back. They’re not coming back right now,” he said.
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Trump told the Post this week that his campaign team believes they can win New York, a normally deep-blue state.
“Over the last six months what’s happened is insane,” the president told the Post. “So we’re going to try very hard to win New York and that will be the first time — is that since Ronald Reagan, I guess?”
“I will bring down taxes and I’ll make sure that New York City is a safe place,” he added. “I mean, this is one of our cherished — this is a cherished diamond of this country. And we can’t let this happen to New York.”
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