New York City Plans to Reopen Due to Increased Vaccinations

| Photo by aNDy on Unsplash

New York City has slowly been opening due to the rise of COVID-19 vaccinations. With the city's travel restrictions lifted and venues and restaurants opening up, one can expect the city to return to the lively scene it once was. 

“Our plan is to fully reopen New York City on July 1. We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open, offices, theaters, full strength,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a press conference. 

This summer, there will be an increased number of residents returning and tourists visiting compared to last year's summer when the pandemic hit its peak and New York was left deserted. In addition to tourist attractions reopening, colleges and universities hope to return to in-person learning after a year of remote education. 

“It was great moving to New York during the pandemic because we got to navigate the city without the hustle and bustle,” Elizabeth Piazza, King’s freshman, said. 

However, the hustle and bustle might be coming back just in time for summer. With the vaccine becoming more readily available, more people are making plans to stay in the city for the summer and students are looking for internships and job opportunities. 

“Because I have been coming to the city for school, to be able to plant more roots outside of academics for a season of time will be beneficial than only being here when I’m doing school; I think that separation will be a cool change,” Drew Nagy, Freshman at King’s majoring in finance, said. 

As more residents and tourists return to the city, the fear of seeing friends and family is minimized due to a decline in COVID-19 cases and an increase in the vaccine. 

“The solution for a lot of people is the vaccine; it’s a reduced fear factor for some people,” Nagy said. “We have put a lot of hope in the vaccine as a society, so it’s going to be interesting to watch the transition of people being okay with more interaction than they use to be.” 

As the vaccine and other factors bring the city back to life, we will see a shift in people being aware of sickness levels and overall awareness for the health and safety of the community. 

“It’s going to be a different normal, but that closeness of wanting to be with people is going to be more heightened than before,” Emma Green, King’s sophomore, said.

Along with the nightlife that will reappear in the city, many New Yorkers are excited to see the arts, and regular tours return to museums. 

“Museums have been open, which is great, but they have not allowed for tours or public programs, so that’s the next step,” Dr. Henry Bleattler, Associate Professor of History and the Humanities, said. 

Since there is a push to get the vaccines, many hope that it will bring back the community on college campuses that have been lost since the pandemic has forced schools to move online. 

“It has the potential to bring back normalcy to the community at King’s and life in the city,” Brent Buterbaugh, future Student Body President, said. 

Because there is a desire for everything to go back to normal, students and faculty expect to be vaccinated in August to experience more activities and events on campus. 

“Last spring was obviously a shock going completely online, but the fact that we were able to do a hybrid model and stay open all year will make the adjustment more natural,” Green said. 

Students and faculty at The King’s College feel that it’s imperative to have the New York experience when in college, and since everything has moved online, many students have not gotten that. 

“King’s is a New York City college. We need the city; it’s just part of the King’s experience,” Bleattler said. 

Though schools might never get rid of online learning, there is something about in-person classes that remote learning cannot offer. 

“The online option is not going away anytime soon, but as an in-person student, I would love to be able to go to class every day,” Green said. “The student-professor relationship I found harder to cultivate this year. It’s harder to feel like you know your professor and for them to feel like they know you when you are not seeing their face.” 

Though it has been difficult for students to grow relationships due to COVID-19 restrictions and remote learning, colleges have had opportunities to develop their technological skills. 

“One of the benefits of the pandemic and using technology is we have learned how to use it well,” Nagy said. “But that comradery you get with in-person classes is not the same when you can just click the red button and leave the Zoom call.”

As de Blasio plans to reopen the city this summer, one can expect colleges, venues and restaurants to fully reopen. 

“I look forward to the community being implemented back into colleges because of vaccinations,” Piazza said. 

With the vaccines, the dynamic people will see this summer versus the pandemic-stricken summer of 2020 will be drastically different because students will have more opportunities to build a community outside of the comfort of their own homes. 

“The COVID-19 shut down changed higher education across the board, and it’s not going to go back to the old way,” Bleattler said. “It has the potential to be something new, and I think it has the potential to be something good and new.” 

As higher education will keep online learning and slowly bring back in-person classes, New York residents are excited to see the city pick up its feet. 

“This is going to be the summer of New York City. You're going to see amazing activities, cultural activities coming back. I think people are going to flock to New York City because they want to live again,” de Blasio said.