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Travel Preparation for New York: Tips & Advice for 2024

Steffen — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 07:43:21 +0000

The most important to-do items to prepare for your trip to New York

What do I need to do and think about before I head to the airport? We have the answers to all your questions here.

These items should be taken care of before your trip to the United States – don’t let a technicality ruin your holiday.

Get travel authorization through ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization, $21). Be sure to register online before your trip to avoid any problems with immigration. Once you have completed your registration, the travel authorization is valid for two years. You should bring a print-out of your registration confirmation with you, or have it downloaded as a PDF on your phone.

Check to make sure your passport, driver’s license, or other personal identification has not expired. If necessary, apply for a new one.
Check your credit card or EC card limit for international travel – to protect against misuse, many credit institutions impose restrictions on card use abroad. If you know how much money you are allowed to withdraw daily or weekly, then you won’t have any nasty surprises at the ATM. It is also important to contact the bank that issued your card and let them know you are traveling abroad! This allows you to increase your card limit as well as avoid your card being blocked due to what may be suspected to be fraudulent behavior.
Save money by planning your sightseeing adventures: prior planning will save you money when traveling to New York to see many of its famous sights and attractions. Many tickets to attractions are cheaper online and with a New York discount pass you can save even more. With our savings calculator and pass adviser you can figure out which pass to buy in order to save up to 56% compared to regular admissions.

Documentation: What papers do I need to bring?

I realize the following points may sound obvious, but checking them off as you go can help you avoid stress. We also use this as our checklist before taking off.

A valid biometric passport – please check to see for how long your passport is valid. Applying for a new one may take up to 6 weeks! You can request a passport at your local municipal registration office. When applying for a new passport, you will also need new biometric passport photos – but you can generally get those taken there. Don’t panic if your departure date is coming up soon: you can request an expedited processing in many countries (for extra money). With expedited processing, you generally receive your new passport after 5 working days.
A valid personal ID – we recommend having one, so you don’t have to take your passport with you everywhere you go. Your personal ID will be much more practical – you may also need it to show you are of drinking age at a restaurant or a bar.
All necessary documentation for your health insurance abroad – it pays off to be prepared!
Your travel documentation such as hotel reservations, flight confirmations, car reservations etc. What we generally do is send those to our e-mail address as a PDF. That way, we always have a back-up in the event of the original being lost. Tip: if you have a smartphone or are taking your notebook, I recommend saving these documents in an app or directly onto your laptop. You will then avoid needing an Internet connection or paying extra fees when accessing your files.
A valid international driver’s license: you will need one if you are renting a car.

Equipment: What should I bring and what else do I need to consider?

Here are all the items you should take on holiday. If you forgot something, you can always get it once you get there (Apart from your credit card). Going through this list before you take off may save you stress and time-consuming searches once in New York:

A credit card – this is our preferred method of payment in New York. It is accepted virtually anywhere: from taxis to ticket counters to every bar and restaurant. Perfect! You can also get a travel money card from your nearest Post Office which functions like a debit card without the costs abroad.
A travel adapter for the USA – this is a must-have because power in the US runs at only 110 V and power outlets have a different shape than what you might be used to from Europe or Asia. You can buy an adapter at the reception desk of many hotels or at the airport should you not already have one.
Dollars in cash – this allows you to save at least once on foreign exchange fees, and you can buy a snack at the airport without a problem. How much cash should you take to New York? With 150 dollars you should be covered. Remember you can use your credit card to pay for the rest. Be sure to get some small bills, including 1-dollar bills, when you exchange money at your bank. You will need small bills to pay for tips in hotels for example.
A cell phone service plan with international options – many providers offer packages so that once you are in New York you can still use your smartphone or tablet. Being able to download the odd map or make a last minute hotel reservations makes traveling easier! Being able to google things on short notice can also prove very useful!
Medications – make sure you are taking all your prescription medications along with you. Also put together a little medical kit that includes painkillers, nausea pills, throat lozenges, cold medicine, etc. Band aids, tissues, and hand sanitizer are also a good idea to have with you. So you don’t have to run out and buy them when you get there.
Trainers – don’t worry about your looks, comfort is key. Nothing is more tiring than walking around on sore feet. You can put on your heels in the evenings or bring your flip-flops along in your backpack to change into later.
A fully-charged camera – nothing is more frustrating than a flashing red light when you are trying to take the ultimate picture. Charging your camera before you leave will get you off to a great start. But don’t forget your charger/cable, memory card (maybe a spare as well) and an extra battery!

Travel Preparation for New York

Another step that will spare you some stress is a relatively detailed vacation plan. It starts with making a list of what sights and attractions you would like to see when you are in the city. New York has a lot to offer, and with a little preparation, you can start your vacation completely relaxed.

We have tried a variety of things that you can look at here:

Transfer from the airport to New York

How do I get from the airport to my accommodation in Manhattan? Or to Brooklyn?

What do I want to visit?

Get inspired by our top 10 attractions in New York – including insider tips.

Which sightseeing pass gets me up to 56% savings compared to buying the tickets separately?

Have a look at our comparison of New York passes or at our free sightseeing pass adviser.

All of this information will help you to start your holiday smoothly. Have fun!

Der Beitrag Travel Preparation for New York: Tips & Advice for 2024 erschien zuerst auf Loving New York.

Easter Brunch in NYC: 16 TOP Restaurants for 2024

Swana — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 18:37:11 +0000

Easter in New York City is a time when the city comes alive with the spirit of spring, offering an array of delightful experiences for locals and visitors alike. One such cherished tradition is indulging in a lavish Easter brunch, and the city boasts many great restaurants ready to delight you with culinary delights. Hearth, nestled in the heart of the East Village, offers a warm and inviting ambiance perfect for celebrating the occasion.

For those craving a taste of classic American comfort food with a modern twist, Bubby’s in Tribeca is the place to be and one of our favorites. Meanwhile, seafood enthusiasts can rejoice at The Fulton, located in the vibrant Seaport District. If you want to know more about these and other really good restaurants for your Easter brunch in NYC, then this article is for you!

TOP Restaurants for Your Easter Brunch in NYC

01

Jane Restaurant

American Restaurant in West Village
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Just across from Fiorello La Guardia Park on 100 W Houston St, you’ll find Jane Restaurant. This inviting spot has been mastering the brunch game since 2001. And the best part is that any time is a good time for brunch here because they serve up their scrumptious fare daily – weekdays from 11:30 am-4:00 pm and weekends from 9:00 am-4:00 pm.

Take my word for it, their French Toast, which is crafted from thick brioche slices soaked in creme brûlée batter and generously adorned with fresh fruit, is a sweet dream come true! Alternatively, if savory is your style, you can’t go wrong with their Crispy Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich. And be sure to make it a boozy brunch by adding a refreshing Bloody Mary or a Peach Bellini made with peach syrup and sparkling wine – it’s an experience that’s second to none among West Village brunch spots.
- Brunch: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
see Website
02

ABC Kitchen

American Restaurant in Gramercy
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The ABC Kitchen serves Slow Food – the opposite of fast food and a declaration of love for our planet. Only the freshest ingredients, supplied by local farmers, are put on the plate. The dishes change seasonally and are free of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and genetic engineering. The prices are more than reasonable for the quality of the ingredients and the service.
- Brunch: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
03

ABCV

Vegetarian Restaurant in Gramercy
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ABCV is a plant-based restaurant that features many vegan dishes, in addition to being fully vegetarian. The spot is decorated elegantly but with a modern twist. There are golden chandeliers, among other handing lights, that provide lighting from above. And the space features many light, pastel colors.

Although ABCV serves everything from ice cream to tomato soup, they’re often praised for their dips. Their green hummus, in particular, seems to be a fan favorite and it is served with whole-grain pita.
- Brunch: 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
see Website
04

The Fulton

Sea Food Restaurant in Financial District
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Located in Lower Manhattan, The Fulton is a sleek and modern seafood-focused restaurant that offers a chic and upscale atmosphere. The restaurant’s interior is designed with a nautical theme, featuring exposed brick walls, wood accents, and large windows that offer views of the Hudson River.
- Brunch: 11:30 am – 3:30 pm
see Website
05

Tin Building by Jean-Georges

Food Market in Financial District
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The Tin Building by Jean-Georges is a culinary haven inside a historic NYC landmark, where you’ll embark on a sensory journey. Celebrating Chef Jean-Georges‘ NYC beginnings at the Fulton Fish Market, this space offers a diverse food market, gourmet grocery, and dining experiences. As you explore six restaurants, fast-casual outlets, bars, and private dining options, indulge in global flavors and make the most of this iconic setting under the Brooklyn Bridge.
- Brunch: 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
see Website
06

Hearth

Other Restaurants in East Village
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A great East Village spot that I regularly visit is Hearth. With a focus on sustainable, clean eating, it’s where brunch is not just a meal, but an experience. Their whipped ricotta toast with poached apple and candied pepitas is heavenly, as is the Cacio e Pepe Polenta.

And for something sweet, you can’t go wrong with the Apple Crumb Muffin. Just make sure you wash it all down with The Beekeeper, a zesty gin and lemon cocktail. When you brunch at Hearth, you’re not just filling your belly, you’re nourishing your soul – as the name would suggest!
- Brunch: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
see Website
07

Easter Sunday Brunch Cruise (with Live Easter Bunny)

Cruise in Lower East Side

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One additional tip: September attracts millions of visitors every year (and for good reason!). To save on waiting time, take a look at NYC’s attraction passes – they’re a quick, easy way to save big bucks. Only until the end of September, you can get up to 40% off with my code LNYOffer

The 38 Best Things To Do In NYC In May 2024

Steffen — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 04:45:00 +0000

There are so many things to do in NYC in May! It’s a great time of year to visit – everything is blooming, the sun is shining, and the first outdoor events & concerts make their appearance. Spring in NYC is in full effect, while summer in New York is just around the corner. Below is a list of our favorite things to do in NYC in May to inspire you for your trip and make sure that you won’t be running out of unique and fun things to do!

May is one of the nicest months to visit NYC as temperatures are mild and spring is in full swing. It doesn’t get too hot throughout the day or too cold in the evenings making it the perfect weather for exploring the city and possibly even having brunch outside. If you are looking for the perfect month to discover NYC’s famous neighborhoods or experience some outdoor events in the Big Apple, May in NYC is definitely a good choice.

If you are looking for a shortcut: These are the

Is the New York Cafe Budapest Worth It? (Full Review)

Riana Ang-Canning — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:14:33 +0000

The New York Cafe Budapest is said to be the most beautiful cafe in the world, attracting tons of visitors every year. So as a lover of beautiful places who needs no excuse to say yes to a fancy coffee, I was, of course, dying to go when my husband and I visited Budapest in 2019.

But is the New York Cafe Budapest worth it? Did it live up to the hype?

Spoiler alert: No. Personally, I do not think the New York Cafe is worth visiting. It did not live up to the hype and, honestly, it’s not even that beautiful (especially if you get sat in the wrong section, more on that later!).

Below I’m sharing my full review of our New York Cafe Budapest breakfast experience and why I felt it was a let down. I’ll also include everything you need to know if you want to plan your own visit (but don’t say I didn’t warn you!).

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

A brief history of the Cafe New York Budapest

Opened in 1894 as part of the New York Palace, the New York Cafe Budapest was a hotspot for poets, artists, editors and writers in Budapest. Writers could take advantage of affordable meals, plus the provided paper and ink, to go along with their coffees.

From there the cafe changed hands, fell into disrepair during World War II, and was used as a sporting gear store, travel agency, and a place to sell horse meat!

Reopening in the 1950’s under the name Hungária Kávéház, the cafe once again found popularity with literary and cultural crowds.

Its fate was up in the air at the turn of the century, eventually being bought, renovated and reopened as a luxury cafe in 2006 by the Italian Boscolo Group. Today it’s known as a beautiful coffeehouse with a rich literary history.

New York Cafe Budapest logistics: Opening hours, location & reservations

If you’re visiting the New York Cafe in Budapest, here’s what you need to know:

The cafe is open from 8:00am – 12:00am, 7 days a week
It is centrally located here by the Jewish Quarter on the Pest side of Budapest, conveniently close to metro and other transit connections
Reservations can only be made for dinner after 6:00pm. If you wish to visit the cafe from 8:00am – 6:00pm, it’s first come first served.

Please note, the information in this post is current as of March 2024. Please check with the cafe directly for the most up to date hours, pricing, etc.

Besides the New York Cafe, check out 21 other things to do in Budapest!

My New York Cafe review

Now that we’ve got the history and logistics out of the way, let’s dive into my New York Cafe Budapest review based on my experience at the cafe in October 2019.

Below I’ll detail my experience and give a rating of the cafe’s decor, service, menu and prices, and then my overall thoughts on whether it’s worth visiting.

New York Cafe Budapest decor: 3.5/5

Yes, the New York Cafe in Budapest is stunning. There’s really no debate there.

This place looks like Versailles with gold trim, ornate ceilings, beautiful detailing on the walls and fancy AF staircases. The setting is simply gorgeous!

But is it the most beautiful cafe in the world? I don’t know. I haven’t visited enough cafes to say for sure.

If you’re super into the opulent Versailles look then yes, you’ll be in love. But if that’s not your aesthetic, you might be less into the New York Cafe.

Personally, I’d prefer a cafe that is a little more charming – think a cozy ski chalet rather than a grandiose palace.

And, to be honest, I did find some of the decor elements underwhelming. The chairs felt cheap and the tables have a glass top with photos and stories underneath, like what you’d see at a diner.

I went to the bathroom expecting to be blown away but it seemed like an ordinary hotel bathroom to me. And don’t even get me started on the side room (more on that below).

So yes, it’s beautiful, but not every element is as gorgeous and luxurious as I had hoped. For a place that boasts about being the most beautiful cafe in the world, I expected better.

New York Cafe Budapest service: 3/5

Sadly, service is where the New York Cafe in Budapest lost a lot of points with me. Because I’m obsessed with travel planning and research, I had made us reservations for breakfast weeks in advance of our trip to Budapest in late October 2019.

Note: This was back when reservations for breakfast were allowed; now you can only make reservations for dinner after 6:00pm.

When we arrived, the foyer was full, mostly with people standing in line. It was very unclear whether we needed to line up or wait elsewhere since we had a reservation.

We noticed another couple show their reservation to a server, so we stood behind them. But still, it took a long time until someone came to talk to us. I understand that a popular restaurant gets busy, but I’m not sure why they didn’t have a more clear system in place.

Eventually we were seated in a room off the side of the main dining room. If your server tries the same with you, get out of there!

This room is a complete let-down. It’s not at all what the grand, gorgeous New York Cafe is supposed to be; it looks half dressed for bed compared to the main room’s ballgown attire.

We were shocked to be seated here, considering we had been promised – and made reservations for – the most beautiful cafe in the world.

As we mulled over the menu and fidgeted in our seats, two ladies were seated near us. Immediately, they too were unhappy with the room and one went to speak to the hostess.

She explained to the hostess that they had made a reservation and preferred to sit in the main dining room where there were tables available.

The hostess refused to move them, stating the free tables in the main dining room were reserved. Which doesn’t really make sense, considering these ladies also had a reservation! And so, the ladies left.

I considered following them out of the restaurant. On a normal day at your average restaurant, I wouldn’t really care where I got sat. I wouldn’t care about the decor and, having been a server myself, I would never ask to move tables.

But we had specifically made reservations at the New York Cafe because we wanted to sit in the main dining room, the one they advertise as being the most beautiful in the world. We knew we’d be paying premium prices, but we at least thought the decor would make up for it.

I didn’t want to pay $50 for breakfast to eat it in a bland room, especially when there were open tables in the other room. Plus, I was really turned off by how rude the hostess had been to the two ladies next to us.

So we spoke to our waiter and politely explained the situation. At that point, I was more than happy to cut our losses and follow our dining neighbours out the door.

But after chatting for a while, our server went to speak to a different host on our behalf and, to our surprise, we were moved to the main dining room.

Our new server, and every other person we interacted with after that, were all very nice. This part of Europe isn’t known for great customer service, so having a server not sneer at you is usually considered a win.

All in all, I’d say the service was okay but that one hostess definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

New York Cafe Budapest menu: 3/5

The New York Cafe in Budapest is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can also come for drinks, dessert or afternoon tea.

We opted for breakfast, but declined the pricy breakfast buffet (€30 per person in 2019, no longer on the menu in 2024). Instead we ordered the Italian breakfast (€24) and the pancakes (€12.50).

The Italian breakfast came with coffee, juice, a few pastries, a bowl of fruit salad and some jams. And it was…just fine.

The pastries were good but nothing to rave about. The drinks were small. And the fruit salad looked like it had been sitting out for a few days, as half the bowl was just fruit juices.

Colin’s three pancakes were served with mascarpone cheese and berries. They were delicious, but the downside was the quantity.

While three pancakes sounds like a lot, these pancakes were miniature – about the size of my palm. And they sure were stingy with the berries, putting only five on the plate.

Suffice to say, we were not overly impressed with the New York Cafe food (especially when you compare it to the prices!). We had just come off of two amazing breakfasts in Bratislava, so this really paled in comparison.

Nothing we ate was bad, but nothing was great either. And while the prices aren’t outrageous, they are a lot to pay for breakfast in Hungary – especially breakfast that isn’t even that good!

I can’t speak to the other items on the New York Cafe Budapest menu, but have read reviews about the lunch and dinner options also being unimpressive.

I have heard some rave reviews about the cakes and hot chocolate. So if I were to go back to the cafe, I think I would focus on the sweet snacks and leave the savoury stuff.

New York Cafe Budapest prices: 2/5

Unfortunately, the New York Cafe in Budapest isn’t going to win any points with me when it comes to price. Of course, we knew how much things were going to cost coming in. We had looked up the menu online, so there were no surprises.

You’re very obviously paying for the setting, not the food. But even still, I would expect more for what we paid.

In 2024 prices, the Italian breakfast (pastries, two drinks, fruit salad) was €24 and the pancakes were €12.50. And these were some of the cheapest items on the menu.

Dessert will set you back €11.50 per dish, snacks come in around €20, lunch and dinner main courses are between €23-36 and the afternoon tea for two is €72.50.

Are these the most expensive prices? Of course not. I’ve paid more for meals plenty of times.

However, I found the prices to be very high for what was offered and very high compared to regular food costs in Budapest. If I’m going to pay more for a meal, it better be a very good meal! And this one was not.

We tried to order strategically to get the most bang for our buck. For example, the Italian breakfast came with two drinks so we got one each. But we still felt unsatisfied and, frankly, hungry by the time we left.

Plus, there’s an automatic 15% service charge added to your bill, which I was not a fan of.

Even in North America, where tipping is customary, it’s uncommon to see an auto-gratuity billed for groups of less than six people.

But to do it to only two people in this part of Europe where tipping is not only rare but usually capped around 10%? That’s not cool. They do warn you about it in very tiny font on the menu, but it still didn’t feel nice paying it.

So we spent over $50 CAD on breakfast (2019 prices). Even if we had spent half that, I would have found it overpriced for what we got and the experience we had.

Overall New York Cafe Budapest review: 11.5/20

If you tally up the scores, I gave the New York Cafe Budapest an 11.5/20 (3.5/5 for decor, 3/5 for service, 3/5 for menu, 2/5 for price).

The decor is pretty, but it doesn’t blow you away. If you’re really expecting the most beautiful cafe in the world, I think you’ll be disappointed.

Plus, you could enjoy nicer decor at a nearby palace (Europe is lousy with them!) for probably a quarter of the price.

The service is hit or miss, but certainly has room for improvement. I understand that the hospitality service culture is different in Europe than in North America, and even more so in Eastern Europe, but in this setting with these prices (including the automatic gratuity!), every server should at least not be rude.

The food we ordered was mediocre and not much on the New York Cafe Budapest menu impressed me. Of course, I didn’t try everything but was disappointed by what I did get to try.

For the price and popularity of this place, they should be able to deliver higher quality meals.

And of course, that means the prices are extremely high for the food and experience you receive.

Like I said, I don’t find the New York Cafe Budapest prices to be astronomical at face value. But when you factor in the value of what you’re receiving for that price and compare it to local costs (even at other tourist restaurants), they are too high.

We didn’t wait in line since we had a reservation, but I’ve heard the wait can be very long. And now that reservations are only available for dinner, I can’t even imagine how unsatisfied I would feel if I had our experience and I had to wait for it.

Final thoughts: Is the New York Cafe Budapest worth it?

No, I don’t think the New York Cafe Budapest is worth it. (I think you saw that one coming!)

Of course, that’s just my opinion. I know people who have gone to the New York Cafe and totally rav

Coronavirus Daily News Brief –March 10: Free U.S. Program for Test Kits Now Suspended, ‘Pandemic: The Musical’ Hits All the Wrong Notes

Jonathan Spira — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Critics panned “Pandemic: The Musical”

Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,460th day.

In news we cover today, the U.S. government program that offered at-home coronavirus test kits was suspended at week’s end, a new short film/musical purportedly about the pandemic hits all the wrong notes, and four years ago New York State saw a containment zone declared for the East Coast epicenter of the pandemic.

THIS DAY IN COVID HISTORY

Four years ago, today on March 10, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a containment zone in New Rochelle – the first Covid epicenter on the East Coast – from March 12 through March 25.

Two days earlier, on March 8, New York City issued guidelines telling people to avoid densely packed buses, subways, or trains.

UNITED STATES

As of Saturday, the U.S. government program offering free at-home Covid test kits was suspended. The on-again/off-again offer was most recently made available in mid-November of last year, just in time for the holiday travel season.

The program was introduced in late January 2022. Deliveries are made by the United States Postal Service within seven to ten days of an order being placed. The government will send four test kits to each residential address that places a request until the program is once again suspended at the end of the current week.

ENTERTAINMENT

It was bound to happen. The film “Pandemic: The Musical” made its premiere of sorts in Las Vegas over the weekend. The short film is the latest in a series by a superspreader of conspiracy theories about the pandemic, Mikki Willis.

The film itself is a virtual font of medical misinformation filled with catchy tunes and out-of-date tropes that fall flat given that so many people see the pandemic, albeit incorrectly, in the rear-view mirror.

To add insult to injury, the Q&A session scheduled for after the viewing was cancelled after Willis was told that the screening room was booked for use at that time.

GLOBAL STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Sunday, March 10.

As of Sunday, at press time, the world has recorded 704 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.02 million in the last 48 hours, and 7 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 674.96 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.03 million in the last 48 hours.

The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls as well as the occasional downward or upward adjustment as corrections to case figures warrant.

Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Sunday at press time is 22,031,574, a decrease of 8,00 in the past 48 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 21,996,239, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,335, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 19 months.

Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Sunday, recorded 111.62 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.22 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and a reported death toll of 533,499.

The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July 2022, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.

Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.

Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 709,963, has recorded 38.45 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.

The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are South Korea, with 34.57 million cases, as number six; Japan, with 33.8 million cases placing it in the number seven slot; and Italy, with 26.72 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.9 million, and Russia, with 24.01 million, as nine and ten respectively.

CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

In the United States, in the week ending March 2, 2024, the test positivity rate was, based on data released on March 8 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 6.5%, and the trend in test positivity is -1% in the most recent week. Meanwhile, the percentage of emergency department visits that were diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 was 1.5%, and the trend in emergency department visits is -21.2%.

The number of people admitted to hospital in the United States due to SARS-CoV-2 in the same 7-day period was 15,141, a figure that is down 13.6% over the past 7-day period. Meanwhile, the percentage of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 2.2%, a figure that is up 0.1% in the same period.

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Sunday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 2,800 doses are now administered each day.

Meanwhile, only 32.7% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.

Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.

In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.

Paul Riegler contributed reporting to this story.

The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org

If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.

☏ 844 LONGCOV (844 566-4268)

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Severe Winter Storm and Moving Fronts Batter Northeast, Heavy Thunderstorms Hit Southeast. Thousands of Flights Delayed and Cancelled.

Jonathan Spira — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Delta and American aircraft waiting to take off at JFK in the rain

The Northeast is facing a long night of heavy rain and flooding on Saturday, the third storm to hit the East Coast this week.

“A winter storm will shift across New England and into the Canadian Maritimes into Monday with gusty to high winds, heavy coastal rain, hazardous seas, and heavy snow downwind of the eastern Great Lakes and over the mountains,” the National Weather Service said Saturday afternoon in a special statement.

Over 30 million people are under flood watches and alerts across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. By the time the storm moves out into the Atlantic, many areas could have been 2” to 3” (51 mm to 102 mm) of rain on the ground.

In total, 11 states – from Virginia to Maine – are in the path of the moving fronts.

The storm system is leaving a trail of destruction in many parts of the impacted areas including downtown Charleston, where strong winds ripped roof tops off of homes and downed power lines, while the torrential rain triggered unusually high tides and flooding in and around the city.

Coastal flood watches are in place from Virginia to New York City and flood warnings are in place from New York to Maine.

Along the I-95 corridor, heavy rain is heading in a northeasterly direction as part of the storm, while north of the Corridor from Albany to Burlington and beyond, heavy snow threatens the area.

In the Southeast, thunderstorms are moving across the region and 14 million people there are under flood warnings and alerts.

U.S. airlines were at the top of the world’s flight cancellation and delay charts Saturday.

Over 1,100 flights were delayed in the Southeast alone on Saturday, with at least an additional 255 flights within, into, and outside of the United States cancelled. In the I-95 corridor, over 1,800 flights were delayed due to the weather, and an additional 109 were cancelled.

The airports most impacted by the severe weather were Orlando International, with 361 delays and 76 cancellations, Charlotte/Douglas International, with 287 delays and 14 cancellations, and Fort Lauderdale International, with 236 delays and 46 cancellations.

Southwest Airlines posted delays for 32% of its operations on Saturday, some 1,313 flights, while 7% of operations or 294 flights were cancelled. American Airlines reported 1,312 flight delays, some 39% of operations, and an additional 74 cancellations, representing 2%. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines posted 682 flight delays, or 24% of total flights on Saturday, with just 8 cancellations.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Flights from Amsterdam to New York, USA from €273

Dudana — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Cheap flights from Amsterdam to New York from €273 round-trip by Fly Play! Find the cheapest flights to New York, the USA from the Netherlands and book your ticket at the best price. Tickets will cost from €273 both ways.

The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. It is located in North America and consists of 50 states. The sheer size and diversity of the U.S. make it a great travel destination. There is everything for everyone in the U.S. Some of the world’s most beautiful natural wonders, great beaches, islands, vibrant cities and renowned national parks and trails. As the United States of America is very rich in sights and landmarks, it’s not too easy to choose only a few. To make this task easier, in this article we will focus on the East Coast only. Here is a list of some of the best places to visit on the East Coast of the USA.

NEW YORK

New York City is the most populous city in the United States. It is probably one of the most popular, if not the most popular place to visit in all of the United States. Since so many wonderful films have been shot in New York City, this bustling city is a dream destination for so many people around the world. Because it’s always fun to visit the location of your favourite movie! Spend a few days there and explore its iconic sights such as the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Empire State Building, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Rockefeller Centre, One World Trade Centre, 5th Avenue and many more.

I’m sure you have seen these places on TV and know a thing or two about them already. Visiting New York City is one of the best things to do in the USA.

Route:

Amsterdam – New York – Amsterdam

Travel dates:

April – May 2024 / September – November 2024

Some examples:

13- 23 Apr €273
16 – 23 Apr €279
15 – 26 May €297
21 – 29 May €285
9 – 17 Sep €283
22 – 30 Sep €287
7 – 15 Oct €273
8 – 17 Nov €281

Where to book?

Visit SKYSCANNER

Baggage policy:

Hand baggage (42x32x25 cm) is included!

Keep following TravelFree.info blog and LIKE our Facebook page, Twitter page.

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Accommodation:

Agoda is transforming travel for millions of customers across the globe. Part of Booking Holdings, Agoda is one of the world’s largest online travel accommodation platforms with a network of over 2,000,000 vacation rentals and hotels worldwide.

Cancelled or delayed flight?

If your flight is cancelled or delayed by 3+ hours, you may get a refund of up to €600. Check it out at SkyCop.

Tours and excursions:

Do not have time to think about accommodation and tours, but have you heard about Tourradar? Multi-day tours to every part of the world, for example, Safaris, Treks, Coach trips, Cruises, White Water Rafting, Mountain Biking, Sailing, Kayaking, Overland Trips and many more.

Have a look at Trip Advisor as well when planning your holiday to find out what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to all the local attractions.

Car rental:

You can find the best car rental prices at AutoEurope.com.

For over 60 years, Auto Europe has been a leader in worldwide car rental services and helped over 10 million travellers find the best options when travelling abroad. Through long-term relationships with top suppliers, for example, Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Europcar, National, Budget, Dollar, Buchbinder and Peugeot AutoEurope offer travellers the best rates at 20,000 pickup locations in over 180 countries worldwide.

Insurance:

Worldwide travel medical insurance for Nomads. Only from $37 / 4 weeks worldwide, affordable travel medical insurance for anyone, especially for long-term travellers and digital nomads.

Save money with a Free Debit card:

Free Debit card by Revolut, N26, Monese or Transferwise, etc. with no fees? Sounds too good to be true, but believe it or not, this exists already for years. This should help protect your pocket. All these cards are great choices for international travellers, get your FREE card: https://travelfree.info/best-free-debit-cards-for-travellers/

CURVE. Manage all of your bank accounts from one smart card using an app. Make your first transaction, after that you can enjoy £5 absolutely free with the Curve discount when you sign up to Curve. Do not miss a great opportunity!

Delivery

Wolt – is an online food ordering and delivery service that takes orders via a mobile app. It was founded in 2014 in Helsinki. Wolt allows any restaurant to sign up as a merchant, mediating the order from the customer, taking care of the delivery and automatic payment by credit card. Get a 15 EUR free coupon for the sign-up.

Learn new skills

Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes for creative and curious people, on topics, for example, Design, Business, Photography, Tech, and More. It’s an online, subscription-based e-learning community platform. Get SkillShare Free Premium Membership for 2 months.

The post Flights from Amsterdam to New York, USA from €273 appeared first on TravelFree.

Coronavirus Daily News Brief –March 8: Mount Sinai Gets $2.6M for Long Covid Studies, Actor Sues Disney Over Vax Mandate, Last Day to Order Free Covid Tests

Jonathan Spira — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Walt Disney World in Florida

Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,458th day.

In news we cover today, healthcare providers ranging from physicians to pharmacies are angry that the recovery from the cyberattack that took down United Healthcare’s Change Healthcare payment network is being delayed, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City received $2.6 million for Long Covid-related studies, an actor is suing Disney over his dismissal over vaccine mandates, and it’s the last day to order free at-home Covid tests in the United States.

THE LEDE

Why Comparing SARS-CoV-2 to the Flu is a Dangerous Fallacy of Inconsistency

The U.S. public health system is doing its best to frame the deadly coronavirus pandemic in the same category as the flu. By doing this, it is oversimplifying the dangerous and erratic nature of SARS-CoV-2 and putting millions of people – especially the elderly and immunocompromised – at risk.

The flu is a true seasonal virus. It generally spreads in winter when people remain indoors more. Covid-19, on the other hand, is a year-round erratic virus that mutates frequently and has lulled us – both experts and the public – to believing that the pandemic was over more than once. (Witness President Joe Biden’s 2021 speech given at a party on the White House’s South Lawn with more than 1,000 people in attendance, at which he declared that the U.S. had achieved “independence” from the coronavirus, although he gets some credit for cautioning against complacency with more transmissible variants circulating in the country. Within months of that speech, we were seeing higher numbers of severe illness and hospitalization than had previously been the case.)

This is not unlike when, after the First World War and the Spanish flu had upended life, President Warren G. Harding said that these events altered the perspective of humanity. He argued that the solution was to seek what he termed “normalcy” by restoring life to how it was before the war.

Harding’s detractors of the time tried to belittle the word “normalcy” as a neologism and malapropism, saying that it was poorly coined (by Harding), as opposed to the more accepted term “normality.” The William Safires of the age discussed evidence that “normalcy” had been listed in dictionaries as far back as 1857, although it was an obscure math term before Harding’s use of it during his campaign. Harding, who had been a newspaper editor (possibly the first U.S. president with that background), did address the original of the word, claiming that only “normalcy” and not “normality” appeared in his dictionary, although he didn’t cite which dictionary this was.

Many, indeed virtually everyone, pined for a return to normalcy once we began to social distance, don face masks, avoid large crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces, and – once we began the long climb back to a semblance of normalcy – stay home when sick or exposed to disease.

Most public health experts hoped that lessons would be learnt from all this, that this type of mitigation should be practiced for – gasp – other respiratory viruses. (Indeed, it bears mention that our precautions killed off one known circulating lineage of Influenza B virus, known as the Yamagata virus.) But that has yet to happen. Instead, there’s a chorus of voices pushing SARS-CoV-2 to be more like the flu, a scientific impossibility in so many respects it barely deserves a response.

Yet, that is where we are. But it doesn’t have to be where we stay.

LONG COVID

The Rehabilitation Innovation group at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York last week received a $2.6 million grant from a Long-Covid-specific nonprofit called the PolyBio Research Foundation. The funds will support two clinical trials. One will test whether two antiviral drugs used to treat HIV can mitigate symptoms of Long Covid. The second will explore whether breaking down tiny blood clots with an enzyme called lumbrokinase can reduce symptoms in patients with Long Covid or chronic fatigue syndrome.

UNITED STATES

Today, Friday, is the final day to order free at-home Covid test kits before the program is suspended. The on-again/off-again offer was most recently made available in mid-November of last year, just in time for the holiday travel season.

The free test kits are available at www.covidtests.gov but (as they say on late-night television), this is a very limited-time offer.

In his third annual State of the Union address, President Joe Biden said that Americans are “writing the greatest comeback story never told” some four years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic and a devastating economic crisis.

“I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in the nation’s history,” he said before a joint session of Congress. “It doesn’t make news, but in a thousand cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told.”

GLOBAL NEWS

In China, there are no more face masks or social distancing rules. For the first time in almost half a decade, thousands of delegates are attending the National People’s Congress sans face masks.

Unlike in the period since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 in Wuhan, which resulted in the deaths of millions of people across the globe, China’s biggest annual political event were able to see each other’s faces while sipping tea in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Moreso than any other country, China maintained a draconian anti-Covid policy that resulted in thousands of lockdowns from small towns to major cities, business shutdowns for months, and forced relocation of not only Covid patients but those who came in contact with Covid patients to isolation camps.

The government removed those restrictions when it appeared to be fomenting a revolt against the government.

SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Disney Television Studio’s Division 20th Television must face a religious discrimination lawsuit for having fired an actor, Rockmond Dunbar, who was in the original cast of the television show “9-1-1,” for refusing to get inoculated against Covid at a time during the pandemic when vaccine mandates were part of the landscape.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee found that the studio may have discriminated against the actor for failing to provide him with a religious exemption. Dunbar contended he was a follower of the Church of Universal Wisdom. Disney, which vetted each exemption request on a case-by-case basis, apparently determined he was not sincere in his beliefs.

The case and several others like it could have implications if a vaccine mandate is reinstated.

GLOBAL STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Friday, March 8.

As of Friday, at press time, the world has recorded 703.98 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.01 million in the last 48 hours, and 7 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 674.93 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, a figure that is virtually unchanged in the past 24 hours.

Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Friday at press time is 22,039,778, a decrease of 2,300 in the past 24 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 22,004,378, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,400, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 19 months.

Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Friday, recorded 111.62 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.22 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and a reported death toll of 533,499.

Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.

Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 709,963, has recorded 38.45 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.

CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Friday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 3,286 doses are now administered each day.

In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.

Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.

The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org

If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.

☏ 844 LONGCOV (844 566-4268)

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

NORSE SALE: Direct flights from European cities to USA / Caribbean / Thailand from €110 one way

Emilija — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

NORSE SALE 2024: DIRECT flights from European cities to USA / CARIBBEAN / THAILAND from €110 one-way! You have a chance to book direct flights from €110 one-way. If you were planning to book your flight with low-cost airline Norse this is the right time. Don’t miss SALE by Norse Atlantic Airways!

Norse Atlantic Airways AS is a Norwegian low-cost, long-haul airline headquartered in Arendal, Norway. Founded in February 2021, the airline operates a fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft between Europe and North America.

Travel period:

March – May 2024

Routes and examples (One-way):

Oslo – Miami €110
Oslo – New York €129
Oslo – Bangkok €235
Paris – New York €200
Berlin – New York €200
Rome – New York €200
London – Barbados £149
London – Montego Bay £183
London – Orlando £149
London – Miami £149
London – New York £213

Where to book?

Visit Norse

Baggage policy:

Personal item 40 x 30 x 15 cm / 15.5 x 11.5 x 5.5 in (no weight restriction) included in all fares!

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

Keep following TravelFree.info blog and LIKE our Facebook page, Twitter page, Telegram

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Accommodation:

Cancelled or delayed flight?

If your flight is cancelled or delayed by 3+ hours, you may get a refund of up to €600. Check it out at SkyCop.

Tours and excursions:

Have a look at Trip Advisor as well when planning your holiday to find out what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to all the local attractions.

Car rental:

You can find the best car rental prices at AutoEurope.com.

Insurance:

Worldwide travel medical insurance for Nomads. Only from $37 / 4 weeks worldwide, affordable travel medical insurance for anyone, especially for long-term travellers and digital nomads.

Save money with a Free Debit card:

Delivery

Learn new skills

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Cheap direct flights from Oslo to NEW YORK from €265 (also summer)

Admin — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Cheap direct flights from Oslo to New York from €265 round-trip by Norse! Find the cheapest flights to New York, the USA from Norway and book your ticket at the best price. Tickets will cost from €265 both ways.

NEW YORK

I’m sure you have seen these places on TV and know a thing or two about them already. Visiting New York City is one of the best things to do in the USA.

Route:

Oslo – New York – Oslo

Travel dates:

May – June 2024

Some examples:

21 – 31 May €311
23 – 31 May €311
25 May – 3 Jun €310
25 May – 5 Jun €311
4 – 12 Jun €331
11 – 24 Jun €265
13 – 24 Jun €265
15 – 24 Jun €265

Where to book?

Visit SKYSCANNER

Baggage policy:

Hand baggage (45 x 36 x 22 cm) is included!

Keep following TravelFree.info blog and LIKE our Facebook page, Twitter page.

!! IMPORTANT !! We have created a Facebook group to get only the hottest travel deals and error fares. Join now! After that, you are welcome to discuss topics about travelling!

Do not miss the next TRAVEL DEAL! SIGN UP HERE and get exclusive travel offers to your email box.

Accommodation:

Cancelled or delayed flight?

If your flight is cancelled or delayed by 3+ hours, you may get a refund of up to €600. Check it out at SkyCop.

Tours and excursions:

Have a look at Trip Advisor as well when planning your holiday to find out what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to all the local attractions.

Car rental:

You can find the best car rental prices at AutoEurope.com.

Insurance:

Worldwide travel medical insurance for Nomads. Only from $37 / 4 weeks worldwide, affordable travel medical insurance for anyone, especially for long-term travellers and digital nomads.

Save money with a Free Debit card:

Delivery

Learn new skills

The post Cheap direct flights from Oslo to NEW YORK from €265 (also summer) appeared first on TravelFree.

The 7 Best Hotels in New York City

NomadicMatt — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Posted: 3/7/2024 | March 7th, 2024

New York City is the most iconic and most visited city in the United States. With its distinctive skyline, diverse neighborhoods, world-class museums, incredible Broadway productions, and melting pot of cultures, NYC attracts millions of visitors each year. (It’s also the place I call home.)

New York City is huge. I mean ten million people live here. Where do you stay when you’re here? There’s so many hotels to choose from.

To help you plan your visit and narrow down your options, here’s my list of the best hotels in NYC:

1. East Village Hotel

Located in the East Village, my absolute favorite neighborhood in NYC, this boutique apart-hotel is run more like an Airbnb than a traditional hotel. You get sent a code before arrival to check in and there’s no staff or restaurant on site (though an outpost of The Bean, a popular NYC café, is right downstairs). The studio apartments are designed to reflect the neighborhood’s bohemian spirit, with contemporary artistic décor, beautiful exposed brick walls, and lots of natural light. The kitchenettes include a stovetop, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and silverware.

Rooms include comfy pillowtop beds, showers with good water pressure, a flatscreen TV, and complimentary bath products. Everything is pretty compact, but in an area with few hotels, this is one of the best value spots. Stay here if you want to be in a central location with tons of great restaurants and bars at your fingertips.

Book here!

2. The Marlton

Originally built in 1900, this historic boutique hotel in Greenwich Village has been home to many of the area’s bohemian set, including one of my favorite writers, Jack Kerouac (he even penned a few novellas here). I like that the hotel’s extensive renovations still kept its classic aesthetic. The beautiful interior has a stately feel, with ornate moldings, herringbone parquet floors, and vintage furnishings like brass light fixtures, ornate rugs, and custom-made furniture. The staff are super friendly too.

The rooms are pretty small, but well designed to make use of the space. They come with flatscreen TVs, comfy beds with plush bedding, wardrobes, minibars, and marble bathrooms. The Marlton is also home to an excellent bar that serves incredible cocktails, and there’s a complimentary breakfast available too. I think it’s the best value for your money in the area.

Book here!

3. voco The Franklin

This three-star hotel is in a 19th-century brownstone in the Upper East Side, the neighborhood I live in (if you see me, say hi!). The rooms here are simple, but the hotel has some great perks, like a free 24-hour espresso bar and a standard late checkout time (12pm). The restaurant is currently being renovated so there’s no breakfast available on-site, but there are tons of places just steps away.

The rooms are decorated in a minimal (but cozy) style, with white-painted chandeliers and cute original art. All rooms come with large TVs and comfy pillow-top mattresses, while their larger rooms come with a desk and easy chair. Everything is newly renovated, and the glass-enclosed showers have excellent pressure. The location is great too as it’s on a quiet, leafy street close to Central Park and Museum Mile.

Book here!

4. Hotel Indigo

This four-star hotel is dedicated to supporting local street art and artists, and you’ll see plenty of their work throughout the building. The rooftop bar, Mr. Purple, is a favorite among locals for fancy cocktails, and on the weekends, the area turns into an upscale club. (Because of that, it’s a 21+ hotel). There’s even a heated pool on the rooftop too.

The rooms boast hardwood floors, bold artwork, and floor-to-ceiling windows with impressive views over the city. All rooms also include Keurig machines, desks, and a minibar (for which you get a $20 USD credit). The bathrooms are large, beautifully tiled, and feature rainfall shower heads. While there’s no breakfast served on site, you’re just steps away from tons of great eateries open at all hours. Overall, I think this hotel is the best place to stay if you want to experience NYC’s legendary nightlife.

Book here!

5. The Standard

The Standard is one of the best hotels in the city (I think this East Side location is even better than the one in the Meatpacking district). The bar serves some of the best drinks in town and is usually always packed with NY’s fashionable set. There’s a café where you can get breakfast in the mornings too.

The recently renovated rooms are gorgeous, decorated in a minimal design with bright pops of color and lots of natural light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows. They’re pretty big too, especially by NYC standards. All rooms at this four-star hotel feature plush beds, fluffy down pillows, huge flatscreen TVs, Bluetooth speakers, cozy bathrobes, work desks, and stocked minibars. The bathrooms are spacious, with tiled walk-in showers and organic designer toiletries. You’ll also get complimentary access to the nearby Crunch gym (in case you want to work off all the delicious food from the plethora of nearby restaurants).

Book here!

6. The Library Hotel

Everything at this four-star hotel is book related. Each of the ten floors has a different theme, and all of the 60 rooms have dozens of books that fit within that theme (the hotel has a collection of over 6,000 books!). There’s also a Reading Room lounge with work desks, cozy nooks for reading or writing, and 24/7 coffee, tea, snacks, and drinks.

Guest rooms are a good size (for NYC) and feature rich wood furnishings in a sleek, contemporary design, with plush bedding, minibars, flatscreen TVs, desks, and luxury bath products. There’s also free breakfast, a rooftop terrace with a bar that serves literary themed drinks, and really helpful staff. It’s a quiet respite from an otherwise busy and loud neighborhood. Stay here for a unique experience that’s close to major tourist sites like Times Square, the Empire State Building, and Grand Central Station.

Book here!

7. The Sherry-Netherland

Located on Fifth Avenue right across from Central Park, this ornate five-star hotel is housed in a stunning Beaux-Arts building. The lobby boasts vaulted, painted ceilings, custom-made chandeliers, and the elevator even has a white-gloved operator, just to highlight how upscale this property is. The property’s Italian restaurant serves breakfast in the mornings and there’s a fitness center available too.

The spacious rooms are elegantly decorated, with mahogany desks, tasteful art on the walls, and large marble bathrooms. All rooms include flatscreen TVs, luxury bath products, complimentary soda, mineral water, and chocolates, and daily newspaper delivery. This is the place to stay if you want to splash out on a classy and timeless NYC hotel experience.

Book here!

***

New York City is a massive city that offers something for everyone. With tons of hotels to choose from here, the ones I recommend above are really good and will help you save hours of research time. Choose one from the list above and have a great trip!

Get the In-Depth Budget Guide to New York City!

For more in-depth tips on NYC, check out my 100+ page guidebook written for budget travelers like you! It cuts out the fluff found in other guides and gets straight to the practical information you need to travel in the city that never sleeps. You’ll find suggested itineraries, budgets, ways to save money, on- and off-the-beaten-path things to see and do, non-touristy restaurants, markets, bars, safety tips, and much more! Click here to learn more and get your copy today.

Book Your Trip to New York City: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight
Use Skyscanner to find a cheap flight. They are my favorite search engine because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned. Start with Skyscanner first though because they have the biggest reach!

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the biggest inventory and best deals. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels.

If you’re looking for more budget places to stay, here is my complete list of my favorite hostels the city. Additionally, if you’re wondering what part of town to stay in, here’s my neighborhood guide to NYC!

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

Safety Wing (best for everyone)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Looking for the Best Companies to Save Money With?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use to save money when I’m on the road. They will save you money when you travel too.

Need a Guide?
New York has some really interesting tours. My favorite company is Take Walks. They have expert guides and can get you behind the scenes at the city’s best attractions. They’re my go-to walking tour company!

Want More Information on NYC?
Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on NYC for even more planning tips.

Photo credits: 2 – East Village Hotel, 3 – The Marlton, 4 – voco The Franklin, 5 – Hotel Indigo, 6 – The Standard, East Village, 7 – Library Hotel, 8 – The Sherry-Netherland

The post The 7 Best Hotels in New York City appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

The 15 Best Things to Do in SoHo NYC – The Complete Guide 2024

Steffen — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

SoHo stands for South of Houston and is a world-famous shopping paradise and artist district in Manhattan, NYC. Bordered by Houston Street, Lafayette Street, and the western part of Broadway, you’ll find a lovely, bright part of the city that has become world-renowned, in part because it has been a backdrop for so many films and commercials.

By the way: you’ll find many more New York City spots in our Loving New York travel guides!

My TOP 5 Things to Do in SoHo

SoHo is famous for so many reasons. There are a bunch of attractions, stores, and restaurants that it can be overwhelming especially if it’s your first time visiting. It’s a popular neighborhood and it’s very busy throughout the whole year. Here’s a list of what we highly recommend:

Have breakfast at 12 Chairs – This restaurant serves Israeli breakfast and is popular among the locals. 12 Chairs is one of our go-to SoHo breakfast spots and has always been exceptional. (56 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012)
Check out the amazing cast-iron architecture – SoHo is known for its amazing cast-iron architecture. It’s everywhere in the neighborhood, especially along Broadway. (Broadway and Prince St.)
Go shopping on Broadway – This street is filled with many stores and boutiques. You’ll find our favorite vintage store, Vintage Twin along this street. (597 Broadway)
Museum of Ice Cream – The interactive museum in the middle of Broadway is not only a hit on social media. There’s so much to discover and taste, you’ll love it.
Visit the NYC Fire Museum – Learn the history of the New York Fire Department. The NYC Fire Museum is great for families with children and worth the visit. (278 Spring St, New York, NY 10013)

Where is SoHo NYC located?

As you can see on the map below SoHo is located right in the center of Downtown Manhattan. From here, the Meatpacking District as well as the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan are within walking distance. Neighboring Districts are Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Nolita, Tribeca and Hudson Square.

How to Get To Soho in New York

Metro: There are multiple trains that you can take to the neighborhood: You can take the following subway lines to get to SoHo NYC:

R W N Q to Prince Street
B D F M and to Broadway-Lafayette St
4 6 and A C E to Spring St
1 2 to Houston St
1 2 or 4 6 or J Z or A C E or N Q R W to Canal St

The 15 Best Things To Do in SoHo NYC

SoHo NYC is filled with a bunch of activities and events. There’s always something going on here. Our TOP 5 above are things we highly recommend but to be honest that list doesn’t stop there. There’s something for everyone in this wonderful neighborhood. Depending on the time of the year, SoHo can be filled with seasonal pop-up shops or activities on the street. If you’re into photography, this is a great place to photograph as well.

Wondering what to do in Soho NYC? Here’s my list of things I personally recommend you do!

These are the attractions worth checking out in Soho

01 Go shopping on Broadway

Broadway is probably one of the most well-known streets in NYC, and also runs right through the center of SoHo. Many big-name shops have their flagship stores right here on this street. Broadway is not only the longest street, but it is also the heart of shopping in SoHo.

You can find your mainstream stores such as Uniqlo and H&M. You can also try your hand with boutique shopping in SoHo. These stores curate their selection so it matches their brand identity and it makes for a better shopping experience.

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02 Soho, Little Italy & Chinatown Walking Tour

Now known for their many excellent restaurants, shops and tourism, Manhattan’s SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown neighborhoods offer the most varied stories of New York City. Take a 2-hour tour with a local guide and discover hidden gems and 19th century buildings.

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03 Museum of Ice Cream

Located at 558 Broadway in SoHo, the Museum of Ice Cream features 13 all-new interactive art installations across 25,000 square feet over 3 floors. Besides multi-sensory installations, it boasts the biggest sprinkle pool to date. With exhibits like these, the Museum of Ice Cream NYC is not your traditional museum. If you’re a family with children, it’s really worth visiting the Museum of Ice Cream in SoHo.

Recommended: The Best Museums in NYC

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04 Explore SoHo with a camera

If you’re big into photography, th

Coronavirus Daily News Brief – March 6: Long Covid May Cause Hangover-Like Symptoms After Consuming Alcohol, Covid Killed Off One Strain of the Flu

Jonathan Spira — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

The Moskovsky Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow. “Something to drink? “No thank you, I have Long Covid.”

Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,456th day.

In news we cover today, precautions taken to avoid contracting SARS-CoV-2 quickly killed off on strain of the flu so new flu vaccines will be changing, former Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York was subpoenaed to testify at a congressional hearing about the early months of the pandemic, and Long Covid may cause hangover-like symptoms after drinking alcohol.

LONG COVID

A peer-reviewed study from researchers at Stanford University suggests that Long Covid could cause increased sensitivity to alcohol.

Scientists at Stanford’s Post-Acute Covid-19 Syndrome Clinic looked at a group of four Long Covid patients with varying demographics and documented their medical histories and alcohol consumption habits before and after contracting SARS-CoV-2.

The study suggests that the patients, despite their varying health backgrounds, share a new-onset sensitivity to the consumption of alcohol subsequent to infection, which triggers “unprecedented symptoms and similar or lower alcohol consumption levels,” the researchers said.

The three women in the study reported “overwhelming” fatigue after drinking alcohol in the same quantities as prior to contracting SARS-CoV-2. A 60-year-old man complained of headaches after drinking a quantity of alcohol similar to what he would drink before becoming infected. This patient reported “chronic, daily headaches characterized by a squeezing sensation at the top and back of the head, typically worst at night,” the study’s authors wrote.

A new study suggests that low blood iron levels may be a trigger for Long Covid. The study, published this week in the journal Nature Immunology, was based on blood samples from 214 patients collected via the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease.

The study, entitled Iron Dysregulation and Inflammatory Stress Erythropoiesis Associates with Long-Term Outcome of Covid-19 and led by researchers at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, suggests that Long Covid was associated with how quickly inflammation and low iron levels regulated after acute infection.

The researchers found that patients who took a longer time to demonstrate regulation, and had more severe initial infections, were at an increased risk of Long Covid.

UNITED STATES

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will be subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight Committee, a Congressional committee investigating his handling of nursing homes during the first years of the pandemic.

A Cuomo spokesman said that the subpoena wasn’t necessary before the governor had already offered to testify and had also offered to provide written responses to questions prior to doing so.

“Do your job,” the spokesman, Rick Azzopardi said to reporters. “Ukrainian soldiers are throwing stones at Russian tanks because we haven’t sent ammunition and we still don’t have a budget. Instead, they continue to play politics with Covid and weaponize people’s pain and loss of loved ones. Congress is officially a circus and they are nothing but clowns.”

The federal government’s offer for free at-home Covid test kits will soon be discontinued. The on-again/off-again offer was most recently made available in mid-November of last year, just in time for the holiday travel season.

The free test kits will continue to be available at www.covidtests.gov through March 8, 2024.

“Orders for free at-home Covid-19 tests will be suspended on Friday, March 8, 2024,” a message that first appeared on Monday of this week said on the website.

GLOBAL NEWS

All of the masking, staying at home, and improved ventilation that helped people avoid contracting SARS-CoV-2 appear to have killed off one known circulating lineage of Influenza B virus, known as the Yamagata virus.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Committee voted unanimously to remove the strain from the next round of seasonal flu vaccines, a move that will result in a trivalent vaccine instead of the previous quadrivalent vaccine.

On Tuesday, a panel of experts who advise the US Food and Drug Administration on vaccines voted unanimously to recommend three-strain flu vaccines that will exclude any viruses from B strains that are part of branch of the flu’s family tree called Yamagata.

Yamagata viruses were already decline before the start of the pandemic but the precautions that were taken appear to have finished them off. They haven’t been detected since March 2020.

Already in October 2023, the World Health Organization concluded that protection against the lineage was no longer necessary in future seasonal flu vaccines and recommended that the number of lineages targeted by the vaccine be reduced from four to three.

In what appears to be a get into the Guinness Book of World Records, a 62-year-old man with the initials HIM from Magdeburg, the capital of Sachsen-Anhalt in Germany, deliberately received 217 vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 within a 29-month period. In contrast, the average German citizen has received between three and four Covid vaccine shots.

HIM was not part of a clinical study nor was the sum total number of vaccinations contemplated under guidelines from the Robert Koch Institut, Germany’s public-health institute, or the Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, the Federal Ministry of Health.

The number of inoculations was so high that the Staatsanwaltschaft Magdeburg, the public prosecutor’s office, opened an investigation, which was later dropped.

The researchers, in what can only be described as a “don’t try this at home” statement, concluded the report in the Lancet saying that “we do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.”

GLOBAL STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Wednesday, March 6.

As of Wednesday, at press time, the world has recorded 703.96 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.04 million in the last 48 hours, and 7 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 674.9 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.04 million in the past 24 hours.

Worldwide, the number of active

coronavirus cases as of Wednesday at press time is 22,052,181, a decrease of 3,000 in the past 24 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 22,016,768, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,413, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 19 months.

Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Wednesday, recorded 111.6 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.22 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and a reported death toll of 533,499.

Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.

Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 709,963, has recorded 38.45 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.

CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

In the United States, in the week ending February 24, 2024, the test positivity rate was, based on data released on February 29, 2024 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 7.4%, and the trend in test positivity is -0.9% in the most recent week. Meanwhile, the percentage of emergency department visits that were diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 was 1.5%, and the trend in emergency department visits is -14.6%.

The number of people admitted to hospital in the United States due to SARS-CoV-2 in the same 7-day period was 17,310, a figure that is down 8.7% over the past 7-day period. Meanwhile, the percentage of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 2.1%, a figure that is down 10.7% in the same period.

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Wednesday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 3,795 doses are now administered each day.

In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.

Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.

The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org

If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.

☏ 844 LONGCOV (844 566-4268)

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

The 14 Best Cafés in Soho NYC

Swana — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

SoHo, one of New York City’s trendiest neighborhoods, is home to some of the city’s best cafés. These charming spots attract locals and visitors alike. From stylish cafes with award-winning coffee to cozy spots for a relaxing afternoon with a cup of tea, SoHo has something for everyone.

A must-visit café in SoHo is undoubtedly 12 Chairs. This trendy café not only impresses with its atmosphere but also with its coffee specialties. Whether you want to try a classic espresso or stop by for breakfast, 12 Chairs will not disappoint. Another popular café is the Dominique Ansel Bakery, which became famous for its popular cronuts.

My Favorite Cafés in Soho NYC

01

12 Chairs

Café in SoHo

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The name of the 12 Chair comes from the beginnings of the once small café, which only had 12 seats. Here you will find delicacies from Israel with a successful mix to the Russian cuisine. Sounds confusing, but it is super delicious. Very popular both for brunch and dinner.

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02

Butler Bakeshop & Espresso Bar (SoHo)

Café in SoHo

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Butler in SoHo NYC is the local gem renowned for its delectable breakfast, lunch, and everything in between. Indulge in freshly prepared meals and scrumptious baked goods, complemented by the finest espresso sourced from the esteemed artisans at Intelligentsia.

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03

Chobani Joghurt Bar

Café in SoHo

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This greek yoghurt bar is definitely one of NYC’s best. Here you will find everything that is organic and natural. As one of the most famous yogurt companies in the US their philosophy is that you cant beat natural ingredients, so they don’t try to. It’s definitely the perfect place to relax and recharge your batteries after a nice stroll through SOHO.
04

Citizens of SoHo

Café in SoHo

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Our next stop brings us to Citizens of SoHo, where the warmth and charm of an Aussie neighborhood cafe meld seamlessly with the bustling energy of New York City. Open for brunch all day, Citizen’s embodies the feeling of a close-knit community amidst the sprawling metropolis, where locals gather over steaming cups of coffee and delightful meals.

Citizens first opened its doors in Chelsea in 2016, born from the shared vision of co-founders Justin Giuffrida and Andrew Geisel. Justin, from Melbourne (the world’s cafe capital), and Andrew, from the sunny Gold Coast, dreamt of bringing an authentic Australian cafe experience to the Big Apple while working together in an NYC coffee shop.

For food recommendations, I urge you to try their Famous Smashing Avo, a gluten-free and vegetarian-friendly dish that features avocado tossed with feta and lime, served on a thick-cut multigrain toast and garnished with pickled onion, radish, pumpkin seeds, and beetroot hummus.

If you’re in the mood for a sweet indulgence, their Banana Bread French Toast is a must-try. It’s an elevated take on the classic, featuring maple banana bread French toast adorned with caramelized bananas and mascarpone. Drizzles of miso butterscotch and sprinkles of black sesame soy powder add a unique flavor twist, and a garnish of fresh mint leaves provides the perfect finishing touch.

see Website
05

Dominique Ansel Bakery

Café in SoHo

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You’ve probably heard of the infamous cronut. That originally started at Dominique Ansel Bakery. When they first came out, it was almost impossible to get one because it would sell out right away.

Today the hustle and bustle has calmed down a bit, but we can still recommend a visit. Be sure to try the strawberry lychee tartlet or the croissants with coconut and chocolate!!!

see Website
06

Eileen's Special Cheesecake

Café in SoHo

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Eileen’s Special Cheesecake offers one of the creamiest cheesecakes in New York City.
07

Georgetown Cupcakes

Café in SoHo

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The cupcake belongs to New York like the Yellow Cab. We have found by far the most delicious cupcake in New York City for you: Would you like to take a breather during an extensive shopping tour through the hippest part of New York City? Then Georgetown Cupcake is just the right thing for you!
08

Joe & The Juice

Bar in SoHo

USA – It is located in North America and consists of 50 states. The sheer size and diversity of the U.S. make it a great travel destination. There is everything for everyone in the U.S. Some of the world’s most beautiful natural wonders, great beaches, islands, vibrant cities and renowned national parks and trails. As the United States of America is very rich in sights and landmarks, it’s not too easy to choose only a few. To make this task easier, in this article we will focus on the East Coast only. Read more about the 7 best places to visit on the EAST COAST of the USA.

New York City is the most populous city in the United States. It is probably one of the most popular, if not the most popular place to visit in all of the United States. Since so many wonderful films have been shot in New York City, this bustling city is a dream destination for so many people around the world. Because it’s always fun to visit the location of your favourite movie! Spend a few days there and explore its iconic sights such as the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Empire State Building, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Rockefeller Centre, One World Trade Centre, 5th Avenue and many more. Are you visiting NYC anytime soon? Check out our article about the Best Places to Visit in New York City for some travel inspiration!

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If your flight is cancelled or delayed by 3+ hours, you may get a refund of up to €600. Check it out at SkyCop.

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Do not have time to think about accommodation and tours, but have you heard about Tourradar? Multi-day tours to every part of the world, for example, Safaris, Treks, Coach trips, Cruises, White Water Rafting, Mountain Biking, Sailing, Kayaking, Overland Trips and many more.

Have a look at Trip Advisor as well when planning your holiday to find out what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to all the local attractions.

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You can find the best car rental prices at AutoEurope.com.

For over 60 years, Auto Europe has been a leader in worldwide car rental services and helped over 10 million travellers find the best options when travelling abroad. Through long-term relationships with top suppliers, for example, Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Europcar, National, Budget, Dollar, Buchbinder and Peugeot AutoEurope offer travellers the best rates at 20,000 pickup locations in over 180 countries worldwide.

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Free Debit card by Revolut, N26, Monese or Transferwise, etc. with no fees? Sounds too good to be true, but believe it or not, this exists already for years. This should help protect your pocket. All these cards are great choices for international travellers, get your FREE card: https://travelfree.info/best-free-debit-cards-for-travellers/

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Wolt – is an online food ordering and delivery service that takes orders via a mobile app. It was founded in 2014 in Helsinki. Wolt allows any restaurant to sign up as a merchant, mediating the order from the customer, taking care of the delivery and automatic payment by credit card. Get a 15 EUR free coupon for the sign-up.

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Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes for creative and curious people, on topics, for example, Design, Business, Photography, Tech, and More. It’s an online, subscription-based e-learning community platform. Get SkillShare Free Premium Membership for 2 months.

The post Flights from Brussels to NEW YORK, USA from €327 appeared first on TravelFree.

The 28 Best Boutique Hotels in New York

Steffen — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

Are you looking for a nice Boutique Hotel for your next visit to New York? But which one is the most beautiful hotel to stay in? My advice: check out our list of the best boutique hotels in New York! Over the years, we have tried and tested countless hotels in New York City. I am sure you’ll come across the right hotel for you!

Boutique Hotels in New York

Boutique hotels in New York are a plenty. Some of the coolest hotels on this planet are found in NYC. Boutique hotels, with their great style and uniqueness, are the perfect option for a stay in New York.

Four Years Ago Today, It Was the Beginning of the End: The Pandemic Shuttered Broadway. The Rest of the World Followed

Jonathan Spira — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

The events of four years ago today are indelibly engraved in my memory like almost no other, except perhaps where I was when the space shuttle exploded, where I was when

And then there was March 12, 2020.

I had arrived back in the States a few days earlier and my closest friend, John, was flying back to New York City that day. We had both gone to theaters in the West End. While John was in the air, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that events with more than 500 people must be cancelled or postponed, an executive order specifically designed to close Broadway theaters, which all have a minimum of 500 seats.

John arrived and called me once his aircraft was on the ground and it fell to me to tell him the news: ”They shut Broadway down.”

A desolate Grand Central Terminal, the third-busiest train station in North America, during the height of the pandemic

This, of course, was merely the tip of the iceberg. I had been writing about Covid since late December and on a daily basis since mid-January, becoming an armchair epidemiologist in the process.

The rest of the month was no better. The day before, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak to be a global pandemic. Then, on March 13, then President Trump declared a national emergency and, the following day, the first two deaths from SARS-CoV-2 in New York State occurred. A 65-year-old man from Suffern, in Rockland County northwest of New York City, died on the 13th, county officials said and the following day, an 82-year-old woman who had been one of the first to test positive in New York City for the virus died on the 14th in Brooklyn, Governor Cuomo announced at the time.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that any gatherings of people in the country be limited to no more than 50 people on March 15, and New York City’s Board of Education announced that the Big Apple’s schools would close the following day.

That news was followed in lockstep on March 17, when all restaurants and bars were told to close, except for delivery, and on March 2, Governor Cuomo Governor Cuomo signed the New York State on Pause executive order, a 10-point policy to assure uniform safety for everyone in the state.

At that point, there had been 7,102 confirmed cases in the state.

The United States became the country with the most reported deaths from the virus, a position that four years later remains the same. There had been 1,300 deaths in the country and the most affected state had been New York, with 38,987 cases and 432 deaths, according to the data the Coronavirus Morning News Brief (now Coronavirus Daily News Brief) maintained from official government sources.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Coronavirus Daily News Brief –March 11: Pandemic Declared Four Years Ago Today, N.J. Remains Unprepared for Next Public-Health Crisis

Jonathan Spira — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:16:52 +0000

A worker wearing mask in open market in China in late 2019

Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,461t day.

In news we cover today, the coronavirus pandemic was declared four years ago today, the WHO is still trying to define the term “pandemic,” and New York State four years ago saw a containment zone declared in the East Coast epicenter of the pandemic.

THIS DAY IN COVID HISTORY

Four years ago today, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

At a news briefing, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that, over the past two weeks, the number of cases outside China increased 13-fold and the number of countries with cases increased threefold.

Further increases are expected. He said that the WHO is “deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction,” and he called on countries to take action now to contain the virus.

“We should double down,” he said. “We should be more aggressive.”

UNITED STATES

New Jersey, a new report reveals, was not prepared for the pandemic, along with the rest of the world, and is not ready for the next public-health emergency.

A $9 million publicly funded report prepared by the law firm of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads in partnership with Boston Consulting Group found that

The report framed the future in blunt language.

“We collectively failed as a nation and as a state to be adequately prepared” Paul Zoubek, a former New Jersey assistant attorney general who worked on the study, wrote in the report. “At the state level, heroic actions were taken to respond in good faith to the crisis. Despite the lessons of the last four years, New Jersey remains underprepared for the next emergency.”

The program was introduced in late January 2022. Deliveries were made by the United States Postal Service within seven to ten days of an order being placed. The government will send four test kits to each residential address that placed a request before the program was once again suspended at the end of the current week.

GLOBAL

Four years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, representatives from World Health Organization member countries around the world are working on a formal definition of a pandemic. The move is part of a wider effort to strengthen global pandemic preparedness.

An leaked recent draft, which was published in February of this year by Health Policy Watch, defines it as follows: “The global spread of a pathogen or variant that infects human populations with limited or no immunity through sustained and high transmissibility from person to person, overwhelming health systems with severe morbidity and high mortality and causing social and economic disruptions, all of which requires effective national and global collaboration and coordination for its control.”

A spokesman for the agency told the Brief that an updated definition is slated to be published this week.

ENTERTAINMENT

The film is a virtual font of medical misinformation filled with catchy tunes and out-of-date tropes that fall flat given that so many people see the pandemic, albeit incorrectly, in the rear-view mirror.

To add insult to injury, the Q&A session scheduled for after the viewing was cancelled after Willis was told that the screening room was booked for use at that time.

GLOBAL STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Monday, March 11.

As of Monday, at press time, the world has recorded 704 million Covid-19 cases, a figure that is largely unchanged in the last 24 hours, and 7 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 674.97 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.01 million in the last 24 hours.

Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Monday at press time is 22,024,580 , a decrease of 7,000 in the past 24 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 21,989,247, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,333, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 19 months.

Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Monday, recorded 111.63 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.22 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and the world’s fourth highest death toll, 533,510.

Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.

Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 709,963, has recorded 38.45 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.

CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Monday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 2,446 doses are now administered each day.

In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.

Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.

The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org

If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.

☏ 844 LONGCOV (844 566-4268)

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

The 53 Best Things To Do In New York In June 2024

Steffen — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 04:14:48 +0000

New York City is one of the places you can always find something to do, whether it’s snowing outside, the sun is shining, or you are stuck in the midst of a spring shower – the Big Apple always has something to offer. New York in June is a charming time. The summer temperatures are rolling in, the parks are filled with people, outdoor activities are in full effect and the city colors come alive. In the evening, many restaurants and rooftop bars welcome you to sit outside. June also offers some exciting events and attractions. See below for some of New York’s most popular events in June!

If you are looking for a shortcut: These are the

GV North America

Travel Preparation for New York: Tips & Advice for 2024

The most important to-do items to prepare for your trip to New York

Documentation: What papers do I need to bring?

Equipment: What should I bring and what else do I need to consider?

Travel Preparation for New York

We have tried a variety of things that you can look at here:

Easter Brunch in NYC: 16 TOP Restaurants for 2024

TOP Restaurants for Your Easter Brunch in NYC

Jane Restaurant

ABC Kitchen

ABCV

The Fulton

Tin Building by Jean-Georges

Hearth

Easter Sunday Brunch Cruise (with Live Easter Bunny)

The Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy – The COMPLETE Guide 2024

The National 9/11 Memorial in NYC

Your Complete Guide to the Labor Day Parade 2024 in NYC

56 Amazing Things To Do in September in NYC

The 38 Best Things To Do In NYC In May 2024

Is the New York Cafe Budapest Worth It? (Full Review)

A brief history of the Cafe New York Budapest

New York Cafe Budapest logistics: Opening hours, location & reservations

My New York Cafe review

New York Cafe Budapest decor: 3.5/5

New York Cafe Budapest service: 3/5

New York Cafe Budapest menu: 3/5

New York Cafe Budapest prices: 2/5

Overall New York Cafe Budapest review: 11.5/20

Final thoughts: Is the New York Cafe Budapest worth it?

Coronavirus Daily News Brief –March 10: Free U.S. Program for Test Kits Now Suspended, ‘Pandemic: The Musical’ Hits All the Wrong Notes

Severe Winter Storm and Moving Fronts Batter Northeast, Heavy Thunderstorms Hit Southeast. Thousands of Flights Delayed and Cancelled.

Flights from Amsterdam to New York, USA from €273

NEW YORK

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Coronavirus Daily News Brief –March 8: Mount Sinai Gets $2.6M for Long Covid Studies, Actor Sues Disney Over Vax Mandate, Last Day to Order Free Covid Tests

LONG COVID

UNITED STATES

GLOBAL NEWS

SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

GLOBAL STATISTICS

NORSE SALE: Direct flights from European cities to USA / Caribbean / Thailand from €110 one way

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Cheap direct flights from Oslo to NEW YORK from €265 (also summer)

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The 7 Best Hotels in New York City