New York “comes back to life” when most of Covid’s remaining restrictions were lifted

New York State lifted almost all remaining Covid-related restrictions on Tuesday, 15 months after a rapid pandemic forced America’s largest city to close unprecedentedly, decimated its small businesses and charged the lives of more than 33,000 of its residents.

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, announced the milestone in a lofty ceremony at the One World Trade Center, the skyscraper rebuilt after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which was intended to have the feeling of a declaration of victory after of a long war.

“Remember June 15, remember today! Because it’s the day New York was resurrected, “Cuomo said.

New York made its decision the same day that California, another Covid devastation center, also lifted most restrictions. Both states did so after the proportion of adults who had had at least one dose of vaccine exceeded the 70 percent rating recommended by public health authorities as a threshold for back-up prevention measures.

As a result, masks and restrictions on social distancing that have governed daily life in two of the most populous U.S. states for more than a year will no longer be required in restaurants, movie theaters, shops, sporting events, work and other places. Or, as Cuomo said, “Now we can come back to life as we know it.”

Masks will still be needed on public transportation, as it is governed by federal regulations.

The movements coincided with other green shoots of recovery. A poll released by the Business Roundtable showed that confidence among top U.S. executives had reached near-record levels between the first and second quarters of the year. Its members expect the U.S. economy to grow 5% this year, up from previous predictions of 3.7%, and a jump in hiring and investment.

New York City is dragging toward normalcy from the darker days of the pandemic more than a year ago, when life was in a disturbing parallel and the moans of the sirens – many Covid patients who were transported to overwhelmed hospitals – filled the air.

The reopening of New York and California comes despite one slowing down national vaccination campaign, with an inoculation rate in some states below others. In Wyoming, Louisiana and Alabama, less than half of the adult population has had a dose and case rates are above the national average.

Deaths attributed to the US Covid-19 exceeded 600,000 on Tuesday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

As new infections have subsided in New York City, restaurants that didn’t fail are filling up again. Apartment leases have increased in the last two months, although rents are falling, and the city’s cultural life has begun to resume. Tickets have gone on sale for the Broadway shows, one of New York’s largest tourist draws, which will reopen in September.

But the return of workers to city office towers, especially in midtown Manhattan, has been slow. Only 20.7% of workers have done so, according to data from the office security company Kastle Systems. This has raised questions about the viability of shopping neighborhoods in a new era of remote work.

Several banks have ordered their employees to return to their tables in the coming weeks and many executives believe the office, the city’s economy center, bounce substantially in September.

Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a group of employers, said Tuesday’s announcement was “the green light employers were waiting for to get employees back to work.”