New York, Tourism | Billion nightmare: I had to close after two days

It was closed two days after opening.

One of New York’s most unfortunate tourist attractions in March “The Edge” was built, which is part of the billion-dollar project at Hudson Yards in western Manhattan.

Here, The Edge opened the famous observation plateau on March 11 this year, just two days before the city-wide closure was ordered. But on September 2 they reopened the roof.

“It’s a wonderful day and the view here is absolutely fantastic,” New Yorker Angelo Mendez (52) tells Nettavisen at The Edge.

– The best view in New York!

– Up here gives you the total feeling of New York, and besides, here I am in good company, he says and points to his girlfriend Carmen Karpel (42), who also enjoys the view from 345 meters above the ground.

– New Yorkers never stop living life, he tells Nettavisen.

– Now we spend a lot of time with friends, we enjoy, we cook and we actively use the city parks. But nothing beats this, this is clearly the best view to be found anywhere in New York! says Carmen Karpel.

345 meters high

The Edge is located in the Hudson Yards area of ​​Manhattan, an area where $ 25 billion has been invested in recent years, or NOK 225 billion.

Manhattan’s last major tourist attraction stands 345 meters high and the plateau on the 100th floor makes it the highest observation plateau in the Western Hemisphere. In comparison, the highest observation plateau in the world is at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is 825 meters above the ground.

The Edge plateau consists of 79 huge glass plates that surround locations and give you a unique almost 360-degree view of New York. The characteristic triangle moves 24 meters in the air from the building itself.

Free for health professionals

There is also a restaurant at the top, on the 101st floor, serving food, drinks, and no less champagne. But since New York has yet to open for indoor dining, they have now put in a separate rooftop bar.

It costs $ 16 for a glass of champagne, if you order online in advance you will get a 20 percent discount.

To honor its heroes and because tourism is still quite modest in New York, it is now free for all American healthcare workers until 2020, but it costs $ 36 for adults, NOK 325, if you buy the ticket online. . For children, the price is $ 31.

– We have a long way to go

Tourism is now very quietly returning to New York City, but major attractions like Broadway are closed until 2021.

However, museums and cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened in late August, and the Empire State Building reopened in late July, with only 20 percent capacity. The Empire State Building’s observation deck is 381 meters above the ground, while the building is 443 meters high, including the antenna.

– We have a long way to go in terms of restoring this, Fred Dixon, CEO of NYC & Company told USA TODAY in July when it comes to tourism in the city.

– We do not use any resources now for people from all over the world to travel to New York, says Dixon. He says they are working to create “a bubble” by encouraging those who live in New York neighborhoods to visit the city, whether from the rest of New York State, as well as from neighboring New Jersey and Connecticut, which have the same quarantine rules.

This week, Governor Andrew Cuomo made it clear that city restaurants can reopen for indoor dining starting Sept. 30, but only at 25 percent capacity. For many restaurants in the city it is still too late, they have already closed for good.

In early August, the New York Times reported that 2,800 smaller businesses had closed since March 1, and a third of them were restaurants and bars. In all, there were 150,000 restaurants in New York City before the pandemic hit the city.

65 percent hotel reduction

There are still difficult times for tourism in the city. On October 1, Hilton permanently closes its 478-room hotel in Times Square. According to USA Today, 200 people will lose their jobs at the hotel, which opened in 2000.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association states in a recent report that occupancy among hotels in urban areas of the US was 38 percent in August, well below the 50 percent the market must have to reach to zero. Last weekend was a long weekend in the US relative to Labor Day on Monday, and here they saw a 65 percent decrease in the number of hotel bookings, compared to 2019.

When it comes to New York, hotel occupancy was 38 percent in August this year, compared to 93 percent in August 2019.

Here you can see more photos of The Edge.

Here artist The Weeknd performs on The Egde during MTV VMA on September 1: