I toured Manhattan during the coronavirus lockdown. A year later, I retraced my steps and found subtle signs the city may be returning to normal.
When the coronavirus pandemic started, I toured Manhattan's landmarks and found a completely empty city.
As a born and bred New Yorker, I've come to accept the crowded streets, tourist-packed landmarks, and fast-paced environment of the city. So when I toured the city back in March 2020, it was shocking to see everything so abandoned and desolate. The city came to a halt and remained that way for months.
The first stop on my tour was Grand Central Terminal, and the famous landmark was completely empty of travelers even though it was rush hour.
A year later, I retraced my steps to see just how much the city has changed. I returned to Grand Central Terminal and found a glimmer of what it used to look like.
Although the terminal isn't as busy as it was before the pandemic, it's a drastic difference from the terminal I had witnessed a year ago. This time, there were more people walking through, buying tickets, waiting for trains, and just enjoying the landmark itself.
In 2020, there were signs in the terminal warning travelers about the dangers of the coronavirus.
"Trains will operate at a reduced schedule for essential travel ONLY," the sign reads. "Spread out and stay healthy."
A year later, the screens are inviting New Yorkers to enjoy museums, zoos, and parks this spring.
In New York City, 18% of the population has been fully vaccinated so far, so many are looking forward to a possibly different city come late spring and summer. The messaging on the screen was the first sign that something great is on the horizon for the city.
The dining concourse in the basement of Grand Central was completely closed last year.
Typically, the dining concourse is filled with travelers passing time before their trains. In 2020, however, it was completely empty and every food stand was closed.
Now, the dining concourse is slowly coming back to life.
Although you still can't sit in the dining concourse to eat, there are a few stands that are open for breakfast and lunch.
After touring Grand Central last year, I walked through the streets and found them completely empty, too.
There was practically no traffic on the roads and no one was walking the streets, which is very unusual during rush hour in this city.
That same intersection today has traffic and pedestrians again.
A year later, the streets of New York are alive again with pedestrians and cars.
In fact, the streets are beginning to look like the city I've come to love.
Although coronavirus cases in the city are still on the rise, these days, most people aren't scared to walk down the street. Last year, that wasn't the case, but a lot has changed, especially our understanding of the virus.
Located down the street from Grand Central, Bryant Park was another wasteland a year ago.
Bryant Park is typically packed with people on their lunch breaks or decompressing after a long workday. But the empty benches and walkways felt eerie when I toured the park last year.
When I returned a year later, I found workers preparing the park for springtime.
In the winter, Bryant Park was transformed into a holiday market with an ice-skating rink and a few local vendors. Now, workers are taking apart the rink and replacing it with an open grass area — another sign the city is slowly returning to normal.
After Bryant Park, I walked to Times Square last year and found it completely empty.
Typically, most people living in New York City avoid Times Square at all costs because of the massive crowds of tourists. When I walked through the landmark in 2020, my jaw dropped. Not only were there no crowds, but there were barely any people at all.
This was not the Times Square I've known my whole life.
Now, Times Square is slowly coming back to life.
Throughout the last year, more and more people have slowly trickled back into Times Square to take in the lights. Even though tourism is still down in this area of the city, Times Square is starting to lure more people again.
The streets flowing into Times Square were also completely empty last year.
Normally these streets are very busy, but there were no cars driving through Times Square. In fact, most of the streets were empty for as far as I could see.
In 2021, there are more cars and pedestrians filling the streets.
It's starting to look like the city I always knew.
In fact, most of the traffic has returned.
The famous New York City rush-hour gridlock is back.
At the same time, foot traffic has picked up as well.
On any given day, pre-pandemic, Times Square had 380,000 tourists. Typically, it was very difficult to walk through Times Square because it was so crowded. You're often bumping shoulders with strangers and getting lost in a crowd.
Although that's not the case today, there are more people in Times Square than last March.
Stores that were closed a year ago now have customers.
A year ago, McDonald's was the only storefront open in Times Square. Today, most of the stores have reopened and some people are waiting to get inside, like at this Disney store.
Last year, the famous red staircase in Times Square was locked, so no one could sit on the steps.
Cops and security guards stood in front of the stairs to make sure no one climbed them.
Now, there are some people enjoying the tourist attraction again.
Before the pandemic, it was nearly impossible to get a seat on this staircase because it was always so crowded. Today, the crowd is sparse, but there are a few people enjoying the view of Times Square from the steps.
In March 2020, Broadway shows closed indefinitely.
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Broadway theaters closed at the start of the pandemic and have remained closed.
A year later, the theaters are still closed, but some lights are turned on, signaling a hopeful future for the city.
The mayor of New York City hopes to reopen Broadway by September 2021, but today, it remains mostly dark.
Much like the theater lights, there are signs all over the city that a return to somewhat normal is near — even though the city still has a long way to go and a lot may happen between now and then.
But the signs are undeniable. Whether it's on the screens in Grand Central Terminal, the renovation of Bryant Park, or the small crowds in Times Square, it's clear New York City is gearing up for the potential end of the pandemic.
As people continue to get vaccinated and follow COVID guidelines, my tour of New York City a year later gave me hope that the end of the pandemic might finally be near.