More than 200 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in New York, with 95 in New York City, which is arguably the tourist capital of America, just ahead of Miami. Even after Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency on Thursday, tourists still visited city landmarks.
At the 9/11 Memorial Plaza on Wednesday, many people visited the pools, where they skimmed through the inscribed names of those lost. Despite a lower volume of visitors than usual, the memorial was far from deserted.
A group of students from Southern New Hampshire University decided to visit New York City after their school-sponsored trip to Spain was canceled due to the pandemic. Spencer Murphy and Nick Bayer, two members of the group, voiced their concerns while viewing the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.
“We’re on spring break now, but our university is still deciding whether or not to close down and move to online classes,” said Murphy. “We’re just lucky they refunded us our money so we can take a trip to New York.” Shortly after, SNHU suspended all in-person classes and will move online after spring break ends on March 16.
Even the grand opening of Edge, a new observation deck in the Hudson Yards, sold out as hundreds of people paid to visit the new attraction on Wednesday. Visitors showed few concerns about the spread of the coronavirus as they waited in line to use touchscreen kiosks to purchase tickets.
