'Droves' of people are fleeing New York City permanently to live in the suburbs or smaller cities - sparking questions of how the city will bounce back once coronavirus lockdown is lifted

Waves of people are trying to leave New York for the suburbs and smaller cities amid growing fears that the city may never return to its former glory or that it will take years to get there. 

Among those fleeing are parents with young children who had already been eyeing moves to suburbs and were give a push when the pandemic hit, and frustrated singletons who no longer see the point in paying exorbitant rent prices for small apartments when there is no city beyond their homes for them to enjoy.

It has sparked questions of whether New York will bounce back - like it did in the 1920s after the Spanish Flu, when there was a spike in creativity and population growth - but also fears that the Big Apple, beloved for its chaotic density and busyness, may never be the same again.  

As of Wednesday morning, there were more than 134,000 cases of COVID-19 in New York City and more than 9.400 deaths. 

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Many are leaving New York City or are at least trying to to get away from the threat of the virus and enjoy more space while the city, where rent prices remain high, is in lockdown 

Some of those leaving are young families who had been considering the suburbs of New Jersey and upstate New York when the city went into lockdown at the end of March.

Among them are Stan and Julia Usherenko who paid $25,000 over the asking price for their new home in Midland Park, New Jersey, after viewing it just once last month on the final weekend that open houses were allowed. 

The couple had been living in Sheepshead Bay, Brookyln, with their two young children.

Heidi Matisoff and her husband have also bought a home in suburban New Jersey for them and their two young children. 

'The lure of leaving the city has increased,' Heidi told The Wall Street Journal. 

Eric and Heidi Matisoff have bought a house in New Jersey and are leaving the Manhattan home

Alison Bernstein, who runs a service called Suburban Jungle which matches city clients with suburban homes, told DailyMail.com she has seen a surge in interest in suburban properties and properties in other cities. 

'Our business has always been based on lifestyle. We have people who start the process, they say "let me see how it goes, I'm not quite sure", they are weighing their options of staying in the city or moving, maybe they're not quite ready though because they want to see what happens with preschool or if they have another baby.  

'What we've seen is, aside from new clients who need to get out for space for example if they have kids and two people working from home, the city's not meant for that, they are saying "we have to get out now."  

'The existing clients who were on the fence before are also all coming back in their droves. 

'They're saying "now is the time,"' she said. 

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Suburban Jungle, which matches city dwellers with homes in the suburbs, said they have seen a spike in calls. Over the last week, the company received 'hundreds' of inquiries 

In the early stages of the pandemic, many were looking for short-term rentals because they did not know long the lockdown would last. 

Now that it's 'sinking in' it may be months before the city is back to normal if ever, she said, they are looking for more permanent options like buying homes. 

While deals are yet to be finalized, she said she has received 'hundreds' of inquiries in the last week alone.

The househunters are bolstered by the knowledge that they can work from home with more ease than they previously thought. 

'Typically, they would have to be within 40 minutes of the city but now they can work from home they have started pushing further out,' she said.

Many of her clients are young families. 

'They specifically are having a hard time with it because when you have little kids and you have no space outside and the weather is getting nicer but it's scary to go outside or even to go in an elevator - toddlers touch everything. Those people are very much affected in terms of quality of life,' she said.

However there has also been a surge in interest among younger, childless people who are exploring other cities. 

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There are concerns over how New York City's economy will bounce back once the lockdown is lifted 

New York City shops close and board up to prevent looting

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'A lot of people from New York are not looking at suburbs. They're looking at Austin, south Florida... people are thinking, "If I can work from anywhere, why wouldn't I do it in good weather where it's less expensive and there's a better quality of life." 

'People are having those discussions, whether you're single, married or have kids or not. They are asking, what is the city going to look like?' 

While the demand for suburban real estate both on a permanent and temporary basis is booming, in Manhattan, the market is plummeting. 'This pandemic has stretched the fabric that was already tearing. If there was ever a moment where living in a major city becomes too much, it’s this moment,' Aaron Bolzle, an executive of Tulsa Remote which is offering people $10,000 to relocate to Oklahoma, told the Times.   

Deals are down by 77 percent, according to UrbanDigs. 

Landlords and real estate agents have been banned from showing apartments since mid March. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced a moratorium making it illegal for anyone to be evicted for not paying their rent during the crisis. 

After 9/11, there were fears of a mass exodus fueled by the belief that the city was more susceptible to terrorism than it previously thought it was. 

Data shows that never materialized. Some financial institutions moved their operations temporarily while Wall Street was rebuilt, but there was never a significant departure of residents, according to data released by the IRS which examined trends between 1997 and 2007. 

Perhaps a more comparable event was the 1918 Spanish Flu. 

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Some are optimistic that the aftermath of the pandemic will bring a new wave of creativity and energy to the city

In the years that followed, there was a surge in population growth and building which revitalized the city. 

When the fiscal crisis rocked the city in the 1970s, pricing out those who could no longer afford to stay in New York, their exodus nearly bankrupted the city in tax income decreases. 

So much remains unclear, like how the government will invest in businesses to prop the city back up again once it can reopen to some extent. Some say it will take 'years' for the city to return to its former state. 

'I don’t think the New York that we left will be back for some years. 

'I don’t know if we’ll ever get it back,'  Gregg Bishop, the commissioner of the city’s small businesses agency, told The New York Times.

Others say it is impossible to predict. 

'The obituary of New York City has been written more than once. And it’s always been proven incorrect,' James Whelan, the head of the Real Estate Board of New York, said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he intends to reopen the state by May 15, allowing some places to slowly get back to business before others. 

It is unclear where New York City sits on that scale. 

It has by far the worst number of cases and deaths out of anywhere, but it is also further along in its trajectory. 

Medical staff who flew in to the city to help with the crisis are now leaving. On Wednesday, the USNS Comfort - a Navy hospital ship which Trump sent to help the city - will leave and return to its base. 

The state is also lending medical equipment to other hard hit areas now. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio has canceled all parades and concerts for the month of June.