VOA慢速英语--纽约人为了更多的生活空间离开城市

People living in New York City are fearful after facing the worst of the coronavirus health crisis¹. This fear is fueling a sudden increase in home sales and rentals³ around the small towns and wooded hills to the city's north.

Anil and Joyce Lilly will not be staying in their Bronx apartment much longer. They just bought a house north of New York in the Hudson Valley. It takes about an hour to reach from the city.

"We were locked into the apartment for three months, a solid three months," Joyce Lilly told the Associated Press, explaining their move to Washingtonville, New York.

"I feel like I'm getting out of prison and I want to run as far away as possible," she said.

Property sellers describe an active market recently, with many house hunters able to work from home. Steven Domber is president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hudson Valley Properties. He said a large number of the home buyers are coming from Manhattan, in the heart of the city. Many of them are experiencing "cabin fever, which is wanting to get out of an apartment and having some land if...there's a lockdown again," he said.

The Catskill Mountains and parts of the valley north of the city have been longtime vacation spots for New Yorkers. But agents say sales and rental² activity is far above normal. Domber said his June sales were up about 30 percent compared to the same month last year. Home builder Chuck Petersheim said he took eight orders in one month, compared to his usual one-and-a-half each month.

But New York City is in no danger of losing a lot of people any time soon. The movement north only represents a small part of the city's population of 8.3 million.

New homes in the area cost from under $200,000 to more than $1 million. They are an escape many people cannot afford. But the increase in sales and long-term rentals suggests many New Yorkers see the city as less livable.

Joyce Lilly moves a filing cabinet as her dog Max follows, Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in the Riverdale neighborhood of The Bronx, in New York.

Joyce Lilly moves a filing cabinet as her dog Max follows, Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in the Riverdale neighborhood of The Bronx, in New York.

Susan Cohen rented a home in Rhinebeck, New York with her husband after sheltering in their Upper East Side apartment.

She said: "For six weeks in our two-bedroom apartment, all we talked about was without a vaccine⁴, we will never go on the subway again...we won't go to the movies, we won't go to the theater...And we said, ‘What are we living here for?'"

County-level home sales numbers from May and June still show a decrease compared to last year. But agents say those numbers are the result of delays of one to three months between offers being accepted and closings on home sales.

Agents have described recent bidding wars over homes that had been on the market for some time and new listings being bought quickly by buyers with cash. Realtor John Murphy said some homes are selling for $100,000 or more above their asking prices.

Home hunters Tony Speciale and Jerry Marsini learned about competition recently when they walked through the front door of a home in Kingston, New York. At that same moment, their agent got a message from the seller about a cash offer from someone else.

"If we find a house that we're interested in, sitting on it more than a few days doesn't seem like a good idea," Speciale said.

The Hudson Valley is not the only area outside New York City experiencing an increase in home buying.

Along the New Jersey⁵ Shore, there are far more buyers than homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Wendy Smith noted⁶ homes are selling above the asking price and "once a thing comes on the market everyone is jumping on it." She is president of Monmouth Ocean Regional Realtors.

Extremely low lending rates from banks are helping⁷ the market. Work-from-home policies resulting from the health crisis also help people to decide to move from the city.

Joyce Lilly said her husband's ability to work at a distance as an information technology supervisor⁸ helped them to decide to move from Riverdale in the Bronx on Tuesday. Susan Cohen just retired⁹ in January and her husband is able to work as a financial technology advisor¹⁰ from home.

I'm Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

rental –n. a property, apartment or home, in which a person can live by paying the owner regular payments

apartment –n. a room or group of rooms in a building that is used as a place to live

lockdown –n. when people are forced to stay in their homes for emergency reasons

afford –v. to be able to pay for something

county –n. an area of a state that has its own government to deal with local matters

bidding –n. the process of making a competitive¹¹ offer of money to buy something and which others can compete by offering more money

cash – n. money in the form of coins or bills or their equivalent¹²

price(s) - n. the amount of money that you pay for something or that something costs

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

3 rentals   

n.租费，租金额( rental的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some large hotels, the income derived from this source actually exceeds income from room rentals. 有些大旅馆中，这方面的盈利实际上要超过出租客房的盈利。 来自辞典例句
• Clerk: Well, Canadian Gifts is on the lower level. It's across from Prime Time Video Rentals. 噢，礼品店在楼下，在黄金时刻录像出租屋的对面。 来自口语例句

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

9 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

10 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

11 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

12 equivalent   

adj.（to）相等的，等价的；n.相等物，等值物

参考例句：

• Nodding your head is equivalent to saying "yes".点头就等于说“赞同”。
• You will receive the full equivalent of your money.你将收到与你的款项价值完全同等的物品。