VOA慢速英语2021 纽约市游客人数开始增长（在线收听）

The once-empty steps outside New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art are filling up with visitors. Near the financial area, people again are taking selfies with the Charging Bull of Wall Street.

纽约市大都会艺术博物馆外一度空荡荡的台阶上站满了游客。在金融区附近，人们又开始华尔街铜牛合影留影。

As pandemic restrictions ease, visitors who left the city's museums, hotels and other attractions a year ago are now slowly returning. But there is still a long way to go before the city's Broadway theater area will be filled with international travelers.

随着大流行限制的缓解，一年前离开该市博物馆、酒店和其它景点的游客们现在开始缓慢回归。但是距离该市百老汇剧院区迎来国际游客还有很长的路要走。

Lately, however, the number of hotel guests and museum visitors have increased due to American travelers and those on a one-day trip to the city.

但是由于美国旅行者以及纽约一日游游客，酒店住客和博物馆游客数量有所增长。

"I've always wanted to come to New York, just because I've watched the movies," said Chazmin Fuhrer. A first-time visitor from Concord, California, she came into the city for a few days to celebrate a friend's birthday.

查兹敏·富勒表示：“我一直想来纽约，因为我看过那些电影。”来自加州康科德市的富勒是第一次来纽约，她到这座城市呆几天是为了庆祝一个朋友的生日。

Sitting at a table in Times Square, Fuhrer said she knew it was not as busy as usual, but she was not concerned.

坐在时代广场的一张桌子前，富勒表示，她知道这里不像往常那样繁华，但是她并不担心。

"It's kind of nice without a lot of people out," she said, as three street performers started their dance moves nearby.

当3名街头表演者在附近开始跳舞时，她说：“外出的人不多，这真是太好了。”

City officials are pleased, even though New York City recently experienced a violent gun incident that killed three people.

城市官员很高兴，尽管纽约市最近发生了一起暴力枪击事件，造成3人死亡。

Mayor Bill de Blasio said after the shooting that New York City is very safe. He added, "In the end, people want to come to this city."

纽约市长比尔·德布拉西奥在枪击事件发生后表示，纽约市很安全。他还表示：“最终人们还是想来这座城市。”

In 2019, an estimated 67 million people visited the city. Last year, that number fell to a little more than 22 million as the virus began spreading in March.

2019年，估计有6700万人到访了这座城市。去年随着新冠病毒从3月份开始传播，这一数字下降到了略高于2200万。

Restaurants, stores as well as some hotels were forced to close. In late spring, social unrest over racial injustice led to two days of property destruction and some stealing. And then-president Donald Trump loudly criticized the city.

餐厅、商店以及一些酒店被迫关闭。今年春季末，种族不平等引发的社会动荡导致了两天的财产损毁行为和一些偷盗行为。时任总统川普厉声批评了这座城市。

After a difficult year, things are starting to look better.

在经历了艰难的一年之后，情况开始好转。

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, has reached 9,000 visitors on some recent days. That is still far less than the 25,000 people who visited the museum during one of its busiest days before the pandemic. And visitors are again riding the ferry from the southern edge of Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty.

以大都会艺术博物馆为例，该馆最近有些天吸引了9千名游客。这跟大流行之前的高峰期一天有25000人参观博物馆相比仍相去甚远。游客们也再次乘坐从曼哈顿南部边缘到自由女神像的渡轮。

Rafael Abreu is vice president for marketing at Statue Cruise, a ferry service that brings visitors to the statue. He said it had been "fairly slow" through February, but visitors had risen in March and April to about 25 to 30 percent of pre-pandemic times.

拉斐尔·阿布雷乌是自由女神像邮轮公司的营销副总裁，该渡轮服务公司将游客带到自由女神像处。他表示，一直到2月份，游客增长都非常缓慢，但是在3月和4月，游客人数上升到了大流行之前的25%到30%。

In the last few weeks, hotel occupancy in the city has gone up to nearly 50 percent of pre-pandemic numbers. New hotels are opening and the number of rooms is expected to reach 118,000 by the end of the year, said Fred Dixon. He is president of the city's tourism agency.

最近几周，纽约市的酒店入住率已经达到了大流行前数据的近50%。弗雷德·迪克森表示，新酒店正在开业，预计到年底客房数将达到11.8万间。迪克森是纽约市旅游局局长。

"It's just really wonderful," Dixon said, adding "it's given us a lot of hope."

迪克森表示：“这简直太好了！”并称，“这给了我们很大的希望。”

City and state officials in recent weeks have been making moves to open the city up as much as possible.

最近几周，市州官员一直在采取措施尽可能地开放这座城市。

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the city's subway system would return to 24-hour service in mid-May. Restrictions on businesses are being lifted. A social distance of 2 meters is still required.

纽约州长安德鲁·库莫宣布，该市的地铁系统将于5月中旬恢复24小时运营。对企业的限制也正在解除。但是仍然要求保持2米社交距离。

De Blasio last month announced a $30 million tourism marketing campaign that will launch in June.

德布拉西奥上个月宣布了一项将于6月份推行的耗资3000万的旅游营销活动。

The city and state are also setting up vaccination areas to offer free shots to tourists. De Blasio says he has a message for tourists.

市州还设立了疫苗接种区，为游客提供免费接种服务。德布拉西奥表示他有话跟游客说。

"Come here. It's safe. It's a great place to be and we're going to take care of you," he said.

他说：“来吧，这里很安全。这里会是个好地方，我们会照顾好你。”