New York (AP) – A dark corridor, which is repeatedly brightened by flashes of light, leads to the elevators. “Wow, that’s like an amusement park,” giggles a group of young women. music sounds. “Welcome to the opening day of Summit,” a woman calls out, leading the group to an elevator that’s just arriving.
Cheering, clapping and taking pictures and filming with their mobile phones, the women who have traveled from Florida get on board, can be driven to a height of around 330 meters in a few seconds – and then have the city’s sea of houses at their feet. “Wow!”
“Summit One Vanderbilt” is the newest attraction in metropolitan New York: an observation deck high up in the “One Vanderbilt” skyscraper, right next to Grand Central station in Manhattan. The platform, which opened on Thursday, offers three floors with a panoramic view of the metropolis, art installations, outdoor terraces and a glass elevator. As if designed for Instagram, silver balls fly in front of the skyline, or visitors and the sea of houses are reflected in all directions. The ticket prices start at around 40 dollars (about 35 euros), for the visit a vaccination against the corona virus must be proven.
Hundreds of visitors poured into the skyscraper when it opened – most of them New Yorkers or tourists from other parts of the USA. For people from many other countries in the world, including Germany as part of the EU, there has been a far-reaching entry ban since March 2020 during the corona pandemic. From November 8th, entry will be allowed again – and many in the New York tourism industry, which has suffered massively from the entry ban, can’t wait any longer.
The city already has several spectacular observation decks: atop the Empire State Building, “One World Observatory” at One World Trade Center and “Top of the Rock” at Rockefeller Center. A few days before the entry stop, “The Edge” was added in 2020 in the Hudson Yards district in western Manhattan – and now the opening of “Summit One Vanderbilt” is a sign that New York is finally ready for tourists from all over the world again.
Before the pandemic, the industry in New York was on a sustained record course. In 2019, a record was set with 66.6 million visitors for the tenth year in a row. In 2020, only around 22.3 million people traveled to New York, most of them before the start of far-reaching corona restrictions in the spring. For 2021, the New York tourism authority NYC & Company expects at least 36.4 million, most of them from the USA – and above all hopes to be able to save the traditionally popular Christmas business. With “It’s Time for New York City” (in German: “It’s time for New York City”) and “New York City Is Ready for You” (New York City is ready for you), the authority advertises in several countries world right now as part of a multi-million dollar campaign.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on the tourism industry in New York – including that of Sanel Huskanovic. The 39-year-old, who was born in Bosnia and later came to Germany as a war refugee, ran a travel agency near Times Square before the pandemic, mainly for German-speaking tourists. “We were completely geared towards the European market and with the travel ban there were suddenly not fewer customers, but no customers at all.”
Huskanovic could no longer afford the rent for his apartment and slept on the sofa with friends for most of the past few months. “On the one hand, it was really bad because everything I worked for for seven years collapsed within just a few weeks. On the other hand, it wasn’t easy for anyone. I bought a bike and cycled a lot, almost to the beach every day. You set new priorities and see what’s important in life.”
With the end of the entry ban, Huskanovic now hopes to be able to rebuild his company – with changes. For example, he no longer wants to offer a tour of all five districts for the time being because of the increased crime rate in New York. Bookings have already been received for the tours that he wants to offer again. “Of course I’m very excited and I’m really looking forward to it. We’re already getting a lot of emails and inquiries,” says Huskanovic. “People missed New York, the city they know from TV and films. It’s not about shopping or anything, it’s about this city – you can see what an attraction it has. Everyone missed it and hope to find that energy again here.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:211022-99-692511/2
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