Free WiFi, more transit, improved airports; Canada meets the ‘new’ NYC

TORONTO — NYC & Company kicked off a Canadian sales mission in Toronto with Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company, presenting highlights of the “new” New York City including developments in hotels, attractions, dining, and retail. The three-city mission next heads to Quebec City and Montreal.

“An ever-evolving destination with momentous developments from hotels to entertainment, we encourage Canadians to come and experience the ‘New’ New York City’ now,” said Dixon. “All are welcome, and we look forward to continuing to welcome Canadians to New York City in 2017 and the years to come.”

NYC & Company recently announced a new international communications and marketing initiative, ‘New York City – Welcoming the World’. In Canada, this campaign will be a communications message, but will also be integrated into all in market sales efforts.

So what’s ‘new’ about about New York City? Here are some of the developments that NYC-bound clients can look forward to:

Hotel Developments

Lobby of the The Whitby. Credit: Firmdale Hotels.

Open as of this past February, The Whitby is the city’s second hotel from Firmdale Hotels and is located just steps from Fifth Avenue’s luxury shops. The contemporary art-inspired property features 86 individually designed rooms, some with picturesque skyline views.
The 612-room DoubleTree by Hilton New York City – Times Square West, which also opened in February, is one of the largest hotels to open in New York City in a number of years. The property features the 4,000-square-foot Lovage Rooftop and Indoor Lounge.
Several new properties are expected to open in the coming months, including the Times Square EDITION Hotel (2017), LUMA Hotel Times Square (spring 2017), Embassy Suites New York – Midtown Manhattan (summer 2017) and Moxy Times Square (late summer 2017).

Infrastruture

Monday saw the launch of a new ferry service that will connect all five bouroughs by water for the same price as the subway. The plan is to have 21 landings for the ferry giving visitos a scenic transit option.
In February, more than 600 state-of-the-art LinkNYC kiosks were installed in NYC’s five boroughs, offering free high-speed Internet, phone calls, and device charging for visitors.
Also in February, all 279 underground subway stations have free WiFi access, along with full celluar coverage from the major U.S. carriers.
In January, the Second Avenue subway opened. The first major expansions to the subway system in more than 50 years, the newly extended Q line serves approximately 200,000 daily riders. The expansion includes an expanded 63rd Street station, along with new stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets. When fully completed, the line will strech 8.5 miles alon Manhattan’s East Side, from Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan to 125th Street in Harlem.
The New York Crossings Project started in January with the city’s most iconic tunnels, bridges and transportation hubs being outfitted with mult-coloured LED lighting that can be synced for events and holidays.
LaGuardia Airport is currently being redesigned, to be opened in stages between 2018-2021.
JFK is getting a $10 billion upgrade with a focus on expanding and connecting newer terminals, a complete redesign of the airport’s roadways, expanded parking lots, state-of-the-art security technology, world-class amentities and a new TWA Flight Center Hotel.

Hudson Yards

Hudson Yards is to be the city’s newest neighbourhood and is currently the biggest residential development in U.S. history.
The crown jewel of the development will be the Vessel, dubbed ‘NYC’s Eiffel Tower’ and made up of 154 interconnecting flights of stairs. It will be free to the public to use, but timed-ticketing will be in place to manage crowds.
The development will also feature a Neiman Marcus shopping centre and an observation deck that will be the tallest in the city.

St George Waterfront

Credit: The New York Wheel

Staten Island’s waterfront will be home to the largest observation wheel in the Western Hemisphere. The New York Wheel will be built just to the north of the ballpark and will stand 630 feet tall. That’s 89 feet higher than the Singapore Flyer, the current record holder. It will be comprised of 36 capsules, each able to carry up to 40 passengers with a maximum capacity of 1,440 people per ride.
The waterfront will also be home to Empire Outlets, a 340,000-square-foot retail complex featuring 100 designer outlet stores and a 190-room hotel.

Attractions

Opry City Stage, NYC.

Opening early April, Gulliver’s Gate will be an interactive and immersive miniature world in the heart of Times Square. Located on 44th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the attraction will feature more than 300 miniature buildings and 3-D printed replicas of some of the world’s biggest cities, including New York City.
In July, the four-storey, 27,000-square-foot Opry City Stage will bring a taste of Nashville’s Southern culture and the famous Grand Ole Opry to Midtown. Located on Broadway between West 48th and 49th Streets, the venue will feature a restaurant, bar, listening room and live musical performances.
This November, NFL Experience Times Square will bring the world of professional football to life. Including a 4D film with exclusive footage, interactive displays that dive into the NFL training regimen and game plan, physical challenges that allow guests to measure up against the pros, and championship memorabilia, the first-of-its-kind attraction will take fans from the stands to the field.
Later this fall, National Geographic ENCOUNTER: Ocean Odyssey will transport visitors below the depths of the Pacific Ocean, where they can interact with virtual marine wildlife combined with new technologies to create a groundbreaking walk-through experience. The new experience will be located on West 43rd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square invites visitors to their New Year’s Eve countdown exhibit, featuring the original ball from the year 2007.
Madame Tussauds New York recently unveiled an 18-foot-high interactive head of King Kong as part of its new permanent exhibit, KONG: Skull Island Experience.

Events

Red Hook will play host to the first ever ePrix race (think Formula One, but the cars are electric) in July.
The city will be host to Ai Weiwei’s multipart Public Art Fund project ‘Good Fences Make Good Neighbors’ exhbit that is running throughout the different boroughs until October.
NYC will play host to WorldPride in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.