NY lifts mandatory quarantine for domestic travelers

NEW YORK - Beginning Thursday, domestic travelers will no longer have to quarantine when flying into New York, although state health officials are still recommending people quarantine after domestic travel as an added precaution.

International travelers are still required to quarantine, however, and all travelers will still have to fill out the state's traveler form, as well as adhere to COVID safety guidelines.

Members of the city's battered tourism industry were enthused by the news. An estimate by NYC & Company says that a little more than half of 2019's pre-pandemic tourists might visit the city and its many sights and attractions in 2021.

For instance, Times Square accounts for just one-tenth of one percent of the city's total landmass, but 15 percent of its economic output, providing one out of every three of the city's cultural and tourism jobs. Prior to the pandemic, Times Square saw 360,000 pedestrians each day, a number that plummeted into the five figures over the last year, but began climbing again in the fall, reaching a little less than 1/3 of its former average during March.

However, Broadway still remains closed and its return will be another key step in the city's economic recovery.

"Until Broadway returns, our businesses will not fully recover," said Regina Fojas, Senior Vice-President of the Times Square Alliance. According to Fojas, Broadway's 39 theaters support 90,000 jobs.

According to NYC & Company, tourists spend $46B a year in New York City, supporting 400,000 jobs.