Spatial Analysis of Subway Accessibility and Business Closures in New York City

Unexpected business closures in urban areas are a major issue, as it hurts jobs, weakenslocal economies, and can destabilize neighborhoods. This study finds out whetherbusinesses located near subway stations in New York City had different closure ratescompared to those farther away. Using Python-based spatial analysis, 496 stations weremapped against 44,913 business licenses, and closure rates were calculated forbusinesses within a 0.25-mile radius of each station. Results show that closure rates weredifferent across boroughs. The Bronx had 38.9%, Brooklyn had 37.6%, Manhattan had34.0%, Queens had 33.0%, and Staten Island had 30.6%. Certain stations, like Beach 44St, had particularly high closure rates, with Beach 44 St having a closure rate of 66.7%.These findings show that there are obvious geographic differences in business outcomesand suggest that transit accessibility interacts with broader urban economic factors.Supplementary code can be found here:https://github.com/Suvan9/-nyc-subway-business-analysis