Our intrepid correspondent Bruce Marais has once again climbed in the saddle and started moving around the globe, now that it is a tad easier to travel. He arrived in New York for the first time in more than a year, and said getting into the country was fairly easy, even without a COVID injection. What he found was a city much quieter but slowly coming back to life.

Grand Central Station with One Vanderbilt on the left corner of the photograph. All photographs: Bruce Marais.

Two massive new buildings (the 82-floor Steinway Tower and the 67-floor One Vanderbilt) have risen on 57th Street and smack bang next to Grand Central Station, respectively, while the gorgeous old Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue has completed its renovation into the new section of Penn Station known as Moynahan Station.

New York Bruce Marais travel post-coved
Eating out – safely distanced.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Ludlow Street, on the Lower East Side.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Moynahan Station, the new railway station built opposite Madison Square Gardens, in the home of the old Farley Post Office.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Grand Central Station, at the famous central clock.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Yes, it’s Broadway.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Pershing Square outside Grand Central Station.
Times Square like you rarely see it.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
When cyclists outnumber cars on Times Square.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Homeless shelters on 57th Street.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
Added to the skyline of needle buildings, is the new Steinway Tower on 57th Street (here and below). It is the world’s skinniest skyscraper and rises 82 floors.

New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid

New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
One Vanderbilt, on the left, overlooks Midtown East.

New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid

New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid

New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
One Vanderbilt towers over Grand Central Station.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
A lone police patrol out at night.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-covid
One Vanderbilt.
New York Bruce Marais travel post-coved
Seventh Avenue, near Times Square.

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