"But now, as the pandemic eases its grip, companies are considering not just how to safely bring back employees, but whether all of them need to come back at all...."

"... [T]hey are now wondering whether it’s worth continuing to spend as much money on Manhattan’s exorbitant commercial rents. They are also mindful that public health considerations might make the packed workplaces of the recent past less viable.... In a recent email to employees, JP Morgan Chase, which until last year had been the largest office tenant in New York City, said the company was reviewing how many people would be allowed to return. More than 180,000 Chase employees have been working from home.... Twitter, which has hundreds of employees in its New York office in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, told all its employees on Tuesday that they could work remotely forever if they want to and if their position allows for it.... 'If you got two and a half million people in Brooklyn, why is it rational or efficient for all those people to schlep into Manhattan and work every day?' said Jed Walentas, who runs the real estate company Two Trees Management. 'That’s how we used to do it yesterday. It’s not rational now.'...  Real estate taxes provide about a third of New York’s revenue..."

From "Manhattan Faces a Reckoning if Working From Home Becomes the Norm/Even after the crisis eases, companies may let workers stay home. That would affect an entire ecosystem, from transit to restaurants to shops. Not to mention the tax base" (NYT).