They can see the past, present and future — and another rent increase from a mile away.
The tarot-wielding self-described psychics who once overtook downtown Manhattan storefronts are a thing of the past — with many saying they have moved online or now work out of their apartments because of the tight economy.
“I don’t want to be out of a job, but equally I don’t want to be a part of the way things are going because it’s horrible,” said Marion Julia Hedger, a k a The British Psychic, who lives in Kew Gardens, Queens.
Hedger told The Post she has seen the landscape of the city’s psychic industry shift dramatically since the COVID pandemic – as office rents, including hers, have skyrocketed.
“I have $2,000 to $3,000 worth of bills every month, and it’s been tight,” she said. “I think it’s a sad reflection on the industry.
“I want to keep my office as long as I possibly can. I do have clients who do want to come [in person] and see me, and I don’t want to have to go into a Starbucks because I don’t feel it looks very professional.”
Hedger, 67, said she leased a “wonderful” office space near Rockefeller Center for more than a decade until her rental agreement expired and she was exiled because of costs to a less traveled section of Midtown in May. She said she now splits her time between the less lucrative Midtown space and her Queens home, where she does both in-person and virtual sessions.
East Village tarot-card reader Elizabeth Dobricki, also known by her mystic name, Angela Lucy, says even her 13-year business with virtual clients from across the globe and various television appearances hasn’t been able to thrive as much thanks to inflation and the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic.
“I’ve been staying pretty [financially] even over the last few years, but [I’ve seen] no increase — I don’t have any money to take, like, an extra vacation, or [other] things that I used to do before,” Dobricki said. “I’m fortunate enough to have a rent-stabilized apartment, but that went up – really it’s the expense of food and Ubers, and I travel for work. You just can’t keep up.”
Upper West Side medium worker Marina Margulis, who owns the co-op apartment she both lives and works in, said, “I used to have about three to four clients a day [before COVID]. Today, if I have three, I’m happy.”
Margulis — who used to toil in the financial sector — said she used to be able to raise her rates by 3% annually to keep up with the economy. But she said she hasn’t touched them “in two or three years, maybe even more than that … because people are struggling.”
Sharon Watts, 26, said she has been working as a medium for nearly 15 years in the Big Apple, offering palm readings, tarot-card readings, face readings, chakra balancing and more, first under the guidance of her mother Elizabeth, a longtime psychic worker on Bedford Street in the West Village.
Elizabeth relocated her storefront to Midtown on 48th Street about six years ago – after a new landlord bought her building – and Sharon found her own outpost on Carmine Street, which doubles as her apartment, this past summer.
Watts’ readings range from $20 for palms to $70 for tarot cards to $150 for a chakra balance – all of which help to sustain her at-home business.
“In the future, I’d love to have my own storefront, but it’s so expensive,” she said.
The sustainability of a career as a New York psychic “just depends on your lifestyle,” she added.
Watts’ family isn’t the only group of mystic workers affected by the Big Apple real-estate market, especially in the notoriously expensive West Village – where a 350-square-foot storefront lease can amount to $18,000 or more per month. By comparison, Watts operates her business from an apartment building that averages about $4,500 in monthly rent for a one-bedroom home.
A Post analysis of psychics listed on Google in the West Village found that several of the workers shuttered their storefronts since the pandemic – including Christopher Street Psychic and Psychic Readings by Taylor. Others have moved on, away from swanky apartments in the village and SoHo.
“I just think that [clients] have moved out of New York – I used to have six readings a day four years ago, but now the volume [of clients] has gone down,” Dobricki said. “But I found other ways to make up the income, of course.”
Dobricki said her online tarot-card-reading business has helped her stay afloat and that the virtual element is more accessible to those who are shy or still concerned about the stigma of seeing a reader.
Hedger, The British Psychic, also warned that many online mystics aren’t always what they appear to be – and are a blemish on the industry, as online platforms including TikTok have led to an increase in scammers.
“My clients come to me and they say, ‘Five psychics on Tiktok have told me my ex-boyfriend is coming back and I should take him back,’ or …. ‘[A psychic] told me for $200 they’ll burn candles for me, and then that’ll remove the spell I have on me,’ ” Hedger said. “They’re not doing the rest of the industry any good, having people who are not trained and doing ‘readings.’ ”
To psychic medium Betsy LeFae, who left her brick-and-mortar office in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for a remote practice upstate several years ago, being a successful mystic is all about advertising — whether you’re in Gotham or not.
“It’s all about online: we’re talking about SEO, online partnerships, podcasts and all that stuff,” LeFae said, adding that about 90% of her clients find her online. “Otherwise, I’d just be holed up in my apartment, working online and not meeting anyone.”
Across the board, Big Apple psychics agreed that visibility is the key to success: Dobricki has lodged repeated appearances on CBS Sports Radio and reads at corporate parties; LeFae sells related online classes, and Watts livestreams on TikTok – while Hedger is looking into doing the same after being “so late to the table” with online advertising.
“It took me a little while to catch on to the fact that maybe I needed to advertise in different places,” Hedger said. “I’m not especially computer literate, so I’m going to have to change my tactics a little bit. … Maybe I’ll start to think about [joining] TikTok.”