New York was an early adaptor of stringent quarantine measures for out of state arrivals and international travelers alike. In the early days of the pandemic, 14 days of quarantine were required, and daily text messages and calls from health authorities to confirm compliance were a thing.
Just over a year in, New York is formalizing its exit from dissuading tourism, with a lift on the ban for domestic travelers who’ve been inside the country for 7-10 days, as per the current CDC recommendations based on testing and isolation.
New York Officially Drops Domestic Quarantine
If hopes of catching spring blossoms in Brooklyn’s lush gardens, or sitting under a tree in Central Park are alive, domestic travelers can now do so once again, without facing a lengthy quarantine in New York.
After successful vaccination initiatives and a change of the seasons, New York officially ended its domestic travel quarantine on April 1st, 2021. This means travelers returning to New York from other states, and arriving in New York for leisure or business face no obligation to isolate.
Every arrival, however, is asked to monitor for symptoms and must still fill out a NYS Travel Health Form before landing.
New York Attractions Reopening
Restaurants are coming back with increasing indoor capacity and seasonality is making it a lot easier to sit outside, too. After a long winter indoors, who wouldn’t want to? As well as restaurants, shops and other activities are popping back up, which means the concrete jungle dreams are made of is slowly roaring up to its former glory.
GSTP has long argued May is one of the best times of year to visit, and there’s at least 10 fantastic things for visitors to do, which locals back too. Even museums, such as the Guggenheim have reopened, albeit with limited capacity.
Hot tip: if you’re coming and want to do things, consider pre-booking. If you do, the NY experience may actually be more enjoyable than ever. Smaller lines, fewer crowds, all that jazz.
It’s great to see New York begin to open up to visitors and returning residents once again, and with any hope it won’t be long before the quarantine requirement for all international arrivals is dropped too. Currently, all US arrivals must submit to a pre flight covid-19 test, so risk factors are less than they once were.
Fun fact: according to Elf, the world’s best coffee is in New York. If that’s not worth a trip, be it from the North Pool or North Dakota, what is?
