Mayor Adams celebrates tourism (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

The COVID-19 pandemic torpedoed what had been record tourism to New York City, but the last year has seen a climb back toward pre-pandemic numbers. Reporting by NYC & Company, the city’s official marketing and tourism partner, projected that by the end of 2022, 56.7 million visitors will have come to the city, about 85% of the 66.6 million that visited in 2019.

Experts say that the goal is to get back to pre-pandemic numbers, and the same...

Lower Manhattan (photo: Edwin J. Torres/ Mayoral Photo Office)

New York’s post-pandemic comeback has been the subject of near constant debate and conversation among city leaders. Among the areas of the city home to the most uncertainty is Lower Manhattan, a hub of business and tourism where leaders are adjusting to new commuting and international travel patterns and strategizing about affordable housing and uses of public space.

Jessica Lappin, the President of the Alliance for Downtown New York since 2014 and a former New York City Council member, ...

Visitors to the Statue of Liberty (photo: Spencer T Tucker/City Council)

New York City’s tourism industry has a long road to recovery and a lot to learn from other cities like London, which has kick-started its economy through hyperlocal tourism, to come out of the coronavirus pandemic recession. During a virtual policy forum this week hosted by the Center for an Urban Future, top

The Catskills from above (photo: @CatskillCenter)

Albany’s budget is tough this year, with an unprecedented $6.1 billion gap to close. New York State has adopted the nation’s most ambitious climate change agenda, which will cost $33 billion over five years, and Governor Cuomo proposes keeping the State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) at a record $300 million.

Environmental spending may seem like a luxury when budgets are tight, let alone unprecedented environmental spending. But doubling down on the state’s environmental agenda is the

(photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

Over the past two decades, tourism to New York City has swelled from 33 million to nearly 63 million annual visitors, with powerful ripples throughout the city’s economy. Once just one sector among many, tourism has risen to become one of the top four employment drivers in the city, according to a new report published by the Center for an Urban Future, the Association for a Better New York, and the Times Square