Between a Category 5 hurricane and the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been an arduous return journey for the Bitter End Yacht Club and hear the music without ever stepping ashore.

It’s a truly odd thing to think about New York City with visitors to iconic places such as the Guggenheim Museum being down 70 percent.

But as this issue of Yachting went to press, all of the pandemic’s problems seemed poised to turn around. Normalcy may not fully resume during the boating season this summer and early fall, but NYC mayor Bill de Blasio says there is reason to expect and hope that change for the better is coming including the “Great White Way” resuming activity by September.

New York City

In January 2020, Broadway ticket sales generated more than $150 million. In January 2021, that figure was zero. In fact, heading into the boating season, there were lots of signals that boaters tying up in the city would have things to see and do. Yankee Stadium, which was a COVID-19 vaccination site during the spring, was reopening with limited capacity for fans who want to see a game in person. 

• Newport is as much a tourist town as it is a seafarer city
• The park is on the waterfront, which means boats can anchor out
• The most famous harbor on Narragansett Bay is the one Newport

If you tie up at Chelsea Piers, you’ll be on the West Side of Manhattan near the Whitney Museum of American Art, whose Julie Mehretu and Madeline Hollander exhibitions run through August. A Jasper Johns exhibition opens in September. You’ll also be near the Museum of Illusions, which is set up for kids and adults alike to explore holograms, games, puzzles and more.