There were moments in the past two years that made it hard to believe the pandemic would ever pass. The city’s streets were empty, the storefronts dark, and our nights were spent clapping for healthcare workers, with the noise a helpful reminder that our neighbours had been there all along. Thankfully those difficult months are truly a thing of the past. The throngs of people on the sidewalk, in parks, at restaurants, and snarling the city streets and highways with cars they bought during the pandemic, not to mention skyrocketing residential rents, show that New Yorkers, myself included, didn’t abandon ship. New York is back and open for business.
OFFICE SPACE
For those that miss it dearly, let me remind you of the jolt you get when you lift your head from the gridded streets of Manhattan or spy the cinematic skyline from the new observation decks at the World Trade Center or One Vanderbilt. Block after block of glass-and-steel towers rise higher and higher from Midtown to Queens to Brooklyn, with 80-, 90-, even 100-storey skyscrapers dwarfing the 20th-century twins of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Construction is the city’s lifeblood, from the new towers of Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s far West Side to the spindled tops of the residential buildings along 57th Street and downtown Brooklyn.
Some of these towers partially emptied during the pandemic, and commercial real estate felt the sting. The office vacancy rate in Manhattan was 17 per cent at the end of 2021 compared with 11 per cent in 2019. This coincided with a jump in work-from-home positions to 10.6 per cent of job openings, or 25,800 of 243,000 postings for December 2021. By comparison, in early 2020 only 4 per cent of job postings were remote.
This story is from the July - September 2022 edition of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July - September 2022 edition of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Our guide to... VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)
We all know that online activity needs to be private and secure. If you suspected that the business-critical information you're about to share with a colleague is at risk of being seen much more widely, you would hesitate to send it.
Raffles London at The OWO
BACKGROUND The first Raffles hotel in London, owned by the Hinduja Group and operated by Accor, opened in September 2023. It is housed in The OWO, a legendary Edwardian Baroque-style building, with the guest experience built around its exceptional history. The Grade II Old War Office was built for the British Army in 1906.
Hilton Colombo
BACKGROUND Hilton Colombo has been operating in Sri Lanka's capital since 1987. Given its long-standing status and rather dated design, renovations of its guest rooms are underway, with all 345 set to be complete by the time of going to press. Hilton has three more properties in Sri Lanka, including Hilton Yala Resort (see page 44).
The Leela Palace Bengaluru
BACKGROUND The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts operates 12 properties in India, in locations including Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, New Delhi, Mumbai and Udaipur, with hotels to follow in Hyderabad, Agra and Sikkim. The group is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance, and Preferred Hotels and Resorts.
Air France Boeing 777-300 premium economy PARIS-NEW YORK
BACKGROUND Air France has been upgrading its Boeing 777-300 aircraft with its latest premium economy product, already seen on its A350. The 777-300 features 48 seats in the premium economy cabin, arranged in a slightly staggered 2-4-2 formation.
Qatar Airways A330-300 business class DOHA-COLOMBO
BACKGROUND Qatar Airways has eight Airbus A330-300 aircraft in its fleet, which are often used for the carrier's medium-haul services such as this Doha-Colombo flight.
Pre-flight checks
There's a familiar list of announcements when boarding a plane, but what do they actually mean? Our undercover pilot shines a light on pre-flight procedures
Auckland
Thrill-seeking activities, mind-bending art - and performing the haka
Yearning for Yala
Searching for leopards and nibbling wild sage in Sri Lanka's Yala National Park
RISKY BUSINESS
Business travellers need their wits about them more than ever these days - with strategies in place should the worst happen