As anyone in New York knows, the strength of the economy can be measured in small things: long lines at Bergdorf’s and Dean & Deluca, the scarcity of Producers tickets. But the broadest of these indicators is table availability at the hottest restaurants.
That’s why we’re announcing the debut of our NYC Restaurant Index ©, a tongue-in-cheek economic survey, which measures the difficulty of getting a reservation at the City’s most popular restaurants. We’ve compiled the index quietly for nearly a year and the results tracked the upswing in worldwide GDP in 2003. Whether this is a lagging indicator, a leading one, or just a useless one remains to be seen. [Berman]
Berman, James. “Food for Thought.” Wall Street Journal. 18 May 2004. <online.wsj.com/barrons/article/0,,SB108498904430815903,00.html> (19 May 2004).