The coronavirus restrictions and accompanying job scarcity, combined with the always formidable cost of living, are causing more and more New Yorkers to leave town.

A New York Post report says the number has surpassed 300,000 in the past eight months, according to conclusions reached with data on numbers from the U.S. Postal Service. The newspaper said it was not clear what percentage of these moves was permanent.

New York City residents filed 295,103 change of address requests from March 1-Oct. 31, according to the USPS stats obtained via Freedom of Information Act request.

COVID-19, obviously, is the primary driver. From March through July, there were 244,895 change of address requests targeted for moving away. That’s more than double the 101,342 during the same period in 2019.

The report cited comments from Michael Hendrix, director of state and local policy at the Manhattan Institute. “I think people are afraid,” Hendrix said. “They’re afraid of catching a deadly virus and they’re afraid of crime and other quality of life concerns. One thing we also hear is about trash and cleanliness of the city.”

The Upper West Side was most affected, with a total 9,076 mail forwarding requests. Apartment vacancies in the Big Apple stood at 16,145 last month, up from 15,923 in September and the highest number in 14 years, according to the Elliman Report.

Major crimes have been on the rise this year with the number of murders in the Big Apple hitting 344 by October, surpassing the count for all of 2019. The number of shootings through Nov. 8 is up 94% over 2019.

The NYPD recorded the total number of homicides this year to 344. The last time homicides ticked up above 400 was in 2012, when 419 were recorded, according to NYPD data.

Add comment