My guess is the parent poster means residents are leaving. I know people who live in an apartment in Manhattan. The only way they can afford it is by renting out a room through AirBnB whenever they can. However, the pandemic+recession means much less demand for AirBnBs in Manhattan. On top of it, they have less work because their industry has effectively shut down from the pandemic. The result is that they can't afford Manhattan because the landlord refused to reduce rent, so they'll be moving out.