Signs of optimism as NYC sees rise in tourism, bit by bit

NEW YORK (AP) — The once-deserted steps outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art are filling up with visitors again. Hotel lobbies are losing their desolate feel. Downtown, people are back to taking selfies with the Charging Bull statue near Wall Street.

Tourists who vanished from New York City’s museums, hotels and cultural attractions when the coronavirus pandemic hit a year ago are trickling back in as restrictions loosen.

There’s still a long way to go before the still-closed theater district is mobbed with international travelers again.

But lately, indicators like hotel occupancy and museum attendance have ticked up, thanks to domestic travelers and day trippers who don’t mind seeing the city operating at less than its usual hectic pace.

“I’ve always wanted to come to New York, just because I’ve watched the movies,” said Chazmin Fuhrer, 26, a first-time visitor from Concord, California, who came into the city for a handful of days recently to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

Lounging at a table in Times Square as three street performers started their dance moves nearby, Fuhrer said she knew it wasn’t anywhere near as busy as usual. But she was OK with that.

“It’s kind of nice without a lot of people out," she said, noting that the pre-pandemic crush of people would probably now make her nervous, with the virus still circulating.

City officials are optimistic, even in the wake of an incident in Times Square on Saturday, when three people — including a child — were injured by stray bullets when a dispute led to gunfire.

“In the end, people want to come to this city,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday. “It is an overwhelmingly safe city, when you look at New York City compared to cities around the country, around the...