NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The once-deserted steps outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art are filling up with visitors again. Hotel lobbies are losing their desolate feel. Downtown, people are back to taking selfies with the Charging Bull statue near Wall Street.
from New York City鈥檚 museums, hotels and cultural attractions when the coronavirus pandemic hit a year ago are trickling back in as restrictions loosen.
There鈥檚 still a long way to go before the is mobbed with international travelers again.
But lately, indicators like hotel occupancy thanks to domestic travelers and day trippers who don鈥檛 mind seeing the city operating at less than its usual hectic pace.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to come to New York, just because I鈥檝e watched the movies,鈥� said Chazmin Fuhrer, 26, a first-time visitor from Concord, California, who came into the city for a handful of days recently to celebrate a friend鈥檚 birthday.
Lounging at a table in Times Square as three street performers started their dance moves nearby, Fuhrer said she knew it wasn鈥檛 anywhere But she was OK with that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of nice without a lot of people out," she said, noting that the pre-pandemic crush of people would probably now make her nervous, with the virus still circulating.
City officials are optimistic, even in the wake of an incident when three people 鈥� including a child 鈥� were injured by stray bullets
鈥淚n the end, people want to come to this city,鈥� Monday. 鈥淚t is an overwhelmingly safe city, when you look at New York City compared to cities around the country, around the world.鈥�
In 2019, an estimated 67 million people visited the city. In 2020, that plummeted to slightly more than 22 million, mostly those who came before the pandemic began rampaging in New York in March.
Restaurants and stores bringing the city's available rooms from 124,000 to 88,000, according to city tourism officials.
On top of that, in late spring led to two days of While the damage was limited and cleanup quick, the city suffered through months of bad press as then-President Donald Trump, eager to bash his Democrat-run hometown,
The daytime Times Square shooting brought a fresh round of handwringing.
But after The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, has reached 9,000 visitors on some recent days. That's still far less than the swarms of 25,000 who once packed in on the busiest days pre-pandemic, but far more than the museum was seeing when it reopened in late August.
Ridership is up on the ferries that take visitors from the southern tip of Manhattan where the grounds and a museum are open even as the statue's interior remains off limits.
Rafael Abreu, vice president for marketing at Statue Cruises, said it had been 鈥渇airly slow" through February, but ridership had risen in March and April to about 25-30% of pre-pandemic times.
Hotel occupancy, which had been running in the 30% range, has been in the 50% range over the last few weeks, said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, the city鈥檚 tourism agency.
New hotels are opening, and the number of rooms is expected to reach 118,000 by year's end.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just really wonderful,鈥� Dixon said of the city's cautious reawakening. 鈥淎nd so, it鈥檚 given us a lot of hope.鈥�
The agency is predicting just over 31 million visitors in 2021.
City and state officials in recent weeks have been making moves to open the city up as much as possible.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo would return to 24-hour service in mid-May. Capacity restrictions on businesses are being lifted, although 6 feet (2 meters) of space between patrons will still be required.
The to boost crowd capacity at games, with no restrictions at all on people who can show they have been vaccinated.
De Blasio last month announced a $30 million tourism marketing campaign that NYC & Company will launch in June.
The city and state are also setting up vaccination stations
鈥淲e think this is a positive message to tourists. Come here. It鈥檚 safe. It鈥檚 a great place to be and we鈥檙e going to take care of you,鈥� said de Blasio, a Democrat.
In a city where multitudes are dependent on tourism for their livelihoods, things can't get better quickly enough.
Michael Keane, an owner of near the World Trade Center site, said things have been looking up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a slow crawl but we鈥檙e seeing more and more tourists every week come in the area,鈥� he said, noting that he's keeping a nervous eye on to ravage 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine going through that again."
Limitations remain. Broadway shows until September. Some attractions require timed reservations to keep crowds down. Others are still closed.
But even with things moving slower, Fuhrer said she was 鈥渄efinitely not disappointed鈥� with her trip.
Back home, 鈥淚 feel like people are still a little bit cautious out there with COVID,鈥� she said. Meanwhile, in New York, 鈥淚 feel like everybody out here is trying to get their life going.鈥�
She and girlfriend Gabbi Allen, 23, both vaccinated, felt like they got to experience
鈥淎ll the sirens, all the honking," Allen said.
鈥淧eople yelling at each other in the middle of the street," Fuhrer added.
The lower-key New York City has actually been wonderful, said Stephanie Piefke, 24, of Atlanta, a frequent visitor out recently for some touristy activities with her friend, first-time visitor Danielle Jenkins.
The women, both vaccinated, said there were maybe a few dozen people cruising through a waiting area set up to handle what Piefke said would have been a 鈥渕iserable鈥� snaking line.
She didn't think the quieter New York City would last, though, once the city fully reopens.
鈥淵鈥檃ll are gonna be like, 鈥極h God, they鈥檙e here,'" she said, 鈥渁nd it鈥檒l be like a tsunami of tourists that have been wanting to come.鈥�
Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press
