A lot of people gave up on Steem due to the "New Steem" movement. So I am not sure how much it helped, if at all...
But we seem to be leaving the bear market and entering the long awaited altseason. Steem will likely benefit, but I sincerely doubt that #NewSteem helped this price hike in any way. In fact, I believe the act of giving people free downvotes will plummet Steem long-term. It is a bad decision, at least, that is my view. I don't like the atmosphere that free downvotes created.