‘New York will never die’

After a year of being heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, rush hour traffic has returned to New York. Complaints about noise are growing and it is difficult to get a reservation at a popular restaurant.
As the pandemic raged through the streets of New York (USA) in 2020, some people declared the city dead. But after a terrible and painful year, the “Big Apple” is now regaining its spirits, according to Bloomberg.

More than half of adults in New York have had at least one dose of the vaccine. The number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations is plummeting. Museums reopen at 50% capacity, cinemas at 33%. Finally, people can sit at the bar to enjoy their favorite drink. The subway will operate 24/7 from May 17, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Parks and outdoor areas get crowded. People are starting to take off their masks in public according to the guidelines of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Rent seems to be stabilizing again. More and more tourists are booking outings. Mayor Bill de Blasio expects 80,000 workers to return to the office on May 4 and has set a target for the city to fully reopen by July 1. “We see a promising return. It feels great,” he said. People enjoy the warm weather in Central Park in New York. Photo: Ed Jones/AP. Optimism about the future While thousands of New Yorkers are suffering long-term health and economic impacts, and most offices are still empty due to the epidemic, things are returning to normal. This makes people optimistic about the future of the city – which suffered the hardest and earliest battle with Covid-19 in the US. After several months of scarcity and difficulty booking vaccination appointments, it is now easy for anyone to do so. By far, it’s the fun things that come back the fastest and most powerful. Over the past few months, Christina Hansen (40), a New York City coach driver for the past nine years, has picked up tourists from California, Texas, Florida and North Carolina. “There is still less work than before, but we are fine. New York is not dead and will never be dead,” Hansen said. MacDougal Street, with its many restaurants and bars in New York, is once again bustling with people. Christina Hansen (right) is delighted to welcome guests back. Photo: Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg. Tickets to next week’s Frieze New York Art Fair, which will bring together collectors from across the United States, are almost sold out. At the Reservoir bar and restaurant in Greenwich Village, locals have to wait about 30 minutes for a table. This place reopened in February, after being closed for almost a year. Another key factor to New York’s return is tourism. The city expects domestic tourism to recover in 2023. Total visitors will surpass the pre-pandemic level of 66.6 million/year by 2024. Devin Cooper (25 years old, living in Los Angeles) immediately booked a flight to New York when he learned that his company allowed employees to travel without being quarantined. He plans to come here in mid-May, when vaccinations are more complete. While it may not be possible to experience some of the city’s famous activities, Cooper says there’s still a lot to see and do. “New York doesn’t seem to have died. This time, I can’t watch Broadway shows and dine outside of restaurants, but it’s a small price to pay for safety during the pandemic,” he said. Slowly recovering Even as most of the art, dining and entertainment life that characterizes New York reopens, the future of work culture, as well as the fate of millions of square feet of office space, remains uncertain. . The subways are far from full, although they will reopen 24/7 hours from May 17, NBC New York news. Mayor Bill de Blasio said office workers would be “a key indicator” of New York City’s long-term return. Some are slowly returning to the workplace. New York will allow offices to increase capacity from 50% to 75% from May 15. Mohammad Naveed, 47, runs a coffee cart near Wall Street. This used to be a prime location that helped him sell about 500 cups of coffee a day. Now, he only sells about 30 cups. “This place is deserted, there are no people,” Naveed explained. During the pandemic, one store after another seemed to be empty. The sector is recovering fast, but it is still far behind. However, between May 2020 and February 2021, 67% of retail jobs, including restaurants, returned to New York state, according to the New York state executive’s office. Coffee carts near Wall Street struggled as offices closed. Photo: Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg. In the real estate sector, the rental market in the Manhattan area shows an early stage of recovery. According to real estate data firm UrbanDigs, new active listings have dropped, monthly leases are increasing, and prices appear to have bottomed out. The number of apartments for rent in New York City is more than double what it was before the pandemic, while maintaining low prices, data from real estate firm StreetEasy shows. StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu said: “The increase in remote work has changed the minds of many renters. Instead of seriously looking for apartments in Manhattan with a short drive to the office, they can afford to explore a host of other neighborhoods in boroughs that might not have been considered before.” Donovan Davis, 24, of Staten Island, waited in line in front of the Supreme store on Bowery Street for about 15 minutes to view the new spring collection and purchase the backpack. Davis was recently vaccinated. Stuck at home for the past year, he didn’t really want to shop until now. “The weather is warming up. I finally started going out and shopping.” Donovan Davis outside the Supreme store in New York on April 30. He only goes out shopping when he is vaccinated. Photo: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou/Bloomberg. New Yorkers used to not appreciate the crowdedness of the city. The subway isn’t as busy as it used to be. But David felt the city was still alive and slowly returning to normal. “Every time I go out, it’s nice to see that there are still so many people there,” he said.