Home Alone at least is set at Xmas. Town centres are always way busier then as everyone rushes to buy stuff.

I don't go downtown too often but I did a few days ago and it was jam fucking packed. I mean every sidewalk was on overflow. Idk what you mean by fake it truly is jam packed during holiday season. On a nice spring day too. Even in the summer. Thats why I usually hang out in queens 🤣

You never said what you were comparing against. I think downtown NYC is extremely crowded and it's a head scratcher where you got otherwise from.

I just spent last weekend hanging around Manhattan. It was pretty damn crowded.

Parts of NYC truly are that crowded on any given day. Locals try to avoid those parts for the most part (especially around midtown and the financial district except for work). They're honestly the worst parts of the city, but are also the most touristy. The rest of the city is still crowded but much more sane and honestly a better experience overall

- proud NYer

From a brief look at the blurry screenshot, looks like a sunny and decent temperature day in Manhattan, depending on where in the city and time: yeah. I could definitely see that level of people fairly consistently

True of not only NY, but other big cities across the world as well. That would be light foot traffic for Shanghai for example

I don't know about New York specifically but I have noticed a decline of people just generally going outdoors over the last few decades. The internet, streaming TV, remote working, online shopping and unabated capitalism has all had a compounded effect on people's desire to do just about anything.

The movie Koyaanisqatsi has some documentary footage of New York City streets from the late 70s, and there are some scenes where they're packed. I've never been to NY so can't speak from experience, but if they're less busy now, maybe that has to do with cultural changes and the internet replacing much of what we used to do in real life?

It can get pretty crowded in some places at some times. Major transit hubs like Penn station, herald square, times square, all get pretty dense.

I've been working from home so I don't need to go to the busier parts at often.

Midtown Manhattan absolutely still gets this crowded, especially near Times Square and K-Town. Like other commentors are saying, it really depends on the location in NYC, time of year, and time of day.

Also, if a shot in a film doesn't feature an actor interacting with the set significantly (having conversation, looking in store window, etc.) there's a decent chance it's stock footage of the actual street conditions.

There's a reason New Yorkers hate going to Times Square :]

When I visited Shibuya crossing in Tokyo there seemed to be less people there than in central Oslo