Blame the turkey of an economy for leaving the Big Apple a lot less stuffed this holiday weekend.
Fast-moving airport lines and fewer expected traffic jams gave holiday travelers reason to be thankful as they headed out of town yesterday — but a decline in travel also means fewer tourists and shoppers in Manhattan, pushing some businesses to the brink.
People who expected big airport delays yesterday instead had time to kill. Port Authority officials forecast traffic at Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark to drop 1.2 percent this weekend.
Westchester resident Anne McGary, her husband and two kids expected a long delay when they showed up at La Guardia three hours early for a flight to Myrtle Beach, SC. Instead, they needed just 15 minutes to check in. “We’re going to get cocktails,” McGary said.
Chelsea Lake, 25, showed up with her boyfriend at La Guardia at 11:45 a.m. for a 3:30 p.m. flight and had time to spare after checking in.
“I’m wondering what I’m going to do now. The security lines are short,” she said.
La Guardia was the only area airport where passenger traffic is forecast to increase this Thanksgiving weekend, by a measly 0.3 percent. The PA expected the number of travelers to decline at Kennedy by 1.5 percent, and at Newark by 1.8 percent.
Less traffic through the airports translates to fewer visitors to Midtown, where tight wallets are bringing lean times. Tourism promoters expect Times Square foot traffic to drop 5 percent this holiday season.
“Business is dead,” said Sahmed Tomal, manager of Playland Gift Inn, at 48th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Usually, the shop sells $30,000 a day worth of merchandise. Lately, sales have dropped to around $4,000 daily. “If things don’t improve, we will have to close,” Tomal said.
“People don’t want to spend much money,” said Mohammed Ibrahim, manager of New York Souvenir, on Broadway between 47th and 48th streets, who has laid off employees to cope with a 20 percent business drop. Gift-shop managers say their only hope is the weak dollar, which lowers costs for tourists visiting from overseas.
“We are hoping that the foreign tourists will make up for the lack of Americans,” said Mohammed Murad, manager of Phantom of Broadway, on Seventh Avenue at 47th Street.
Those with cash to spare can be grateful for Black Friday sales. Toys ‘R’ Us plans to start its Black Friday sales at midnight tonight — five hours earlier than usual — and will offer a special deal on the season’s hottest toy, the Zhu Zhu stuffed hamster.
Apple declined yesterday to knock down Internet rumors of deep discounts at its stores for Mac and iPod shoppers. The company only confirmed it plans a one-day sale tomorrow.
Most Wal-Mart stores will be open today and stay open through tomorrow. Start times for Wal-Mart’s Black Friday discounts will vary tomorrow morning to avoid incidents like last year’s trampling death at a Long Island Wal-Mart.
Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores will also be open today.
This year’s discounts won’t be quite as extravagant as in years past, a retailing expert said.
“Stores have less inventory and don’t feel as compelled as they did last year to slash prices on everything,” said Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group.
Turkey talk
* The 83rd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade starts at 9 a.m. This year, the route kicks off at 77th Street, heading down Central Park West, and then east on Central Park South. At Seventh Avenue, it turns south until 42nd Street, then east until Sixth Avenue and south to 34th Street. It will end at Seventh Avenue. If you want to watch the parade from home, catch it from 9 a.m. to noon on NBC. n Government offices, financial markets, banks and schools are closed.
* No regular mail delivery.
* Subways and buses run on Sunday schedule; LIRR runs on holiday schedule, with extra trains to parade; Metro-North runs on a Sunday schedule, also with extra parade trains.
* Alternate-side parking suspended through Saturday.
* No garbage or recycling pickups; no street cleaning.
Additional reporting by Sabrina Ford, Jeremy Olshan and Todd Venezia