I have never been to NYC and so my wife and I booked a 4 day trip for the Pinstripe Bowl, staying in Lower Manhattan, to finally "do New York". But... Omicron.
I don't want this to be a discussion of whether or not we should all hide from Omicron - What I want / need to know is, independent of the bowl game, will NYC be worth being in next week? From what I read, something changed in NYC behavior on Friday with massive cancellations of events, holiday parties, etc. If the city severely restricts what businesses are open, etc., (especially restaurants and bars) then we are thinking that we will save some money and "do NYC" another time. I might still go up and just drive in, go to the game, and drive out.
Anybody have any on-the-ground feedback?
Comments
I was in NYC over the weekend and pretty much everything is open. There are tourists everywhere and Omicron hasn't slowed that down at all. The only shutdowns and closures so far that we noticed were for Broadway shows due to cast members getting COVID.
Biggest advice I can give is to carry your vaccination card with you everywhere. Most businesses are supposed to be asking for proof of vaccination before allowing entry. We needed them to get through TSA at the airport, check-in to our hotel, get into museums, and to be able to sit down at a few bars & restaurants. Retail shopping and stores (Macy's, Lego Store, Harry Potter Store, etc.) didn't ask even though they had signs up saying to be ready to show proof of vaccination.
And for the Broadway shows, they're definitely doing full refunds if show gets cancelled.
There are a lot of places in DC doing vax card checks so I'd expect it be the same in NY. Probably can do a decent amount of things if you have your card.
Obviously, you have to be vaccinated or you will get refused at any theater or museum, and may get refused at restaurants. I don't know for sure, but I just cannot imagine them forcing business closures again.
If it were me, I'd make it a 2-3 day trip. I'd buy tickets to a matinee (Chicago, Wicked, Lion King, Tina Turner, or Ain't Too Proud), I'd slot in some time to go to one or two museums of your choice, and then make reservations at restaurant choices. The theater and museum stuff will put you in Central/Upper Manhattan. So do those on the days before/after the bowl game. On gameday, I'd just spend all my time around the stadium, find a cool bar to eat lunch and watch some games before going into stadium. Go into stadium as early as you can.
And if you want to see two shows...do the matinee, head over to Don Antonio's for the best pizza I've ever had, and then get back over to Broadway for a night show.
My wife and I just came back from NYC last weekend. Everything is still open so long as you have proof of vaccination and a mask. I didn't see or hear any mention of shops/attractions shutting down outside of Broadway for cast members getting covid.
Keep an eye on local news sources, but as of right now everything is a green light. Go have fun!
Are they ok with a photo of your vax card, or do you need the actual card? I really wish someone had thought up and made those things wallet sized.
If you have an iPhone you can add it to your wallet. For NYC they have an app someone on here linked to you can add it to.
I used the NY COVID Safe app but they're probably fine with the photo of the vax card. I also laminated mine with some clear packing tape, it was getting dog eared in my wallet.
If only there were a template of a type of card that could fit neatly in a wallet....
I had no problems with showing a photo and my ID a few weeks ago.
My wife and I considered going to the bowl game. She is not vaccinated by choice while I am, also I still work for a National Mission Force in retirement and DoD strongly suggest vaccination. I understand this may get political which should be my spidey senses to not even post, but I feel that it's relative.
Back in August of this year my entire house, sans my 12 y/o son contracted covid. That included my wife (40y/o non vax), aunt (64 y/o vaxxed), uncle (60 y/o vaxed), and myself (40 y/o vaxed). Some of our symptoms were the same, and some were different. I will not get in to our different levels of physical fitness and what not. I was just stating this as a point of reference that I know how serious this virus can be. Of note, we all recovered very quickly and experienced the common symptoms of lethargy and lost of taste/smell.
I can imagine that members of this site has possibly lost loved ones due to this pandemic, I am so sorry for your loss. I took/take this virus very seriously. I also recognize that others have family members who could succumb to the virus very quickly if they're infected, I pray that they never will.
This brings me to what I am about say. Any logical person with half a brain and 1/4 of EQ would know how serious this is to those that fall in to the category of being at serious risk. In my lifetime however, I never imagined that Americans would have to show proof that they belonged somewhere for a social gathering in the form of a vax card. I got it, proof of age to drink, to drive etc. etc. To go to a place to eat though...pisses me off. For what I thought we were trying to preserve overseas.
I'll probably get downvoted, maybe even banned. I am just having a period of clarity right now because I am indulging in the American Ramadan (period of time between Thanksgiving and New Years where no one s really working) and expressing thoughts with bourbon courage.
Anywho, I hope the OP has a great time in NY! We plan on going next year this time, when the unvaxxed may be more welcomed.
What part of "we don't do politics on here" is so hard to understand?
It's not hard to understand at all. I just wish these conversations didn't have to be political. I would wager that well over half of the members of this site is college educated, myself included. Something like this should be apolitical since it concerns us all.
It does not matter whether or not it "should be political" or not. It HAS been made political and the mods on here have said they don't want COVID talk on here and yet people like you keep bringing it up. It nearly brought this site to the equivalent of a virtual bar fight last year. I know a lot of would agree with me when I say this... STOP BRINGING THIS CRAP ON HERE! We are here to talk VT sports not this crap.
I wasn't on here a lot last year, didn't know that. Sorry for being people like me. Oh well, Go Hokies!
P.S. Does typing in caps still mean "yelling", or really trying to get your point across? Sorry, Gen X'er here.
You weren't on here much last year but you somehow knew your comments would get you downvoted and potentially banned? I am calling BS. You knew exactly what you were doing.
You're lucky you didn't get mod-bombed for your post. Politics in general are against community guidelines. And there are a lot of strong feelings about COVID from a lot of different perspectives. The only thing we're supposed to discuss on here related to COVID is when it's impacting events, like games or other stuff the community might be doing/interested in (like whether stuff is closed around NYC for the guy who was going to visit around the bowl game). And it's not supposed to be complaining, just factual closings/cancellations, or best guesses based on other local cancellations.
Edit: there were well over 10 threads related to COVID last year and the comments got heated, so threads would get locked. Ultimately, the mods decided to ban conversations related to COVID other than in the context I outlined above.
Everyone I knew who went to Tech had to show shot records proving we'd gotten the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine and others as well. I heard of some people who had to go get vaccinated because they didn't have everything. Link for immunization requirements.
So yeah, you're politicizing this one.
We don't do this here. Been the policy for a long time because the discussions always collapse. Locking this thread.
Guitarman and others already said this, but I am going to reiterate that if you start your post with
Then you should in fact refrain from posting
Been in Manhattan since Saturday the 18th, and I was nervous too cause I was on vacation in March 2020 when everything shut down and figured it'd be just my luck for it to happen again.
Only one place I've tried to go was closed, and that was cause staff was sick, and the closure was just over the weekend so they could contact trace and clean. Every other bar and restaurant we've been has been operating at normal capacity, but they will check your vax card and ID if you plan on dine-in. I think you'll be alright for your trip. Just be flexible on food/drink planning just in case.