The Elwood Call-Leader Wednesday, November 10, 2021 PAGE 3

By DAVID R. MARTINAssociated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — As Iclimbed the narrow metalsteps on the edge of the sky-scraper, the safety harnessthat kept me attached to thebuilding — nearly 1,300 feetup — kept clicking, like aroller-coaster heading towardits first drop.

Looking around on a recentfall day, I could see New YorkCity spread out below me inthe early morning light. To thesouth, One World TradeCenter appeared at eye levelin the distance. To the east,the needle spire of theEmpire State Building. To thewest, as our guide, AnissaBarbato, pointed out, evenNew Jersey looked good.

This was City Climb, anattraction opening Tuesdayat 30 Hudson Yards, one ofthe city's tallest buildings. Itgives thrill-seekers a uniqueperspective on New York thatno observation deck couldhope to match: No walls, noglass windows, no railings.Just skyline.

The $185-per-personexperience starts with climb-ing groups of up to eighttaken through a series ofsafety protocols, including aBreathalyzer test. They’rethen outfitted in bright blue fullbody suits meant to ensurethat nothing can fall off theirperson to the streets below.

Climbers are equipped with

specially designed safetyharnesses that let themascend an outdoor staircase,from the first lookout knownas the Cliff, to the top platformcalled the Apex, located1,271 feet above 10thAvenue.

There, they can lean outover the edge and look downat the Empire State Building.City Climb will operate rain,snow or shine, but will close ifthe temperature drops below23 degrees Fahrenheit or ifthere is dangerous weatherin the area.

Setting off on our climb, mystomach tightened as soonas the gate saying“Restricted Area” openedonto the Cliff. My hands, tin-gling with nervous anticipa-tion the night before, werenumb in the cold as I walkedthe 161 steps on the exterioredge of the building’s distinc-tive triangle top.

I looked down on theHudson Yards plaza and thestreets next to it, where thecars looked like ants.

When I got to the Apex,Barbato, the attraction’s man-ager, welcomed me: “We areat the top of the world.”

Then, she leaned back,arms stretched out, hangingover the city as a tether kepther from falling to the streetsbelow.

“Put your heels on theedge, bend your knees, andpush out,” one of the guides

said, when it was my turn.I did as instructed. And

then, it was time to hold myarms out.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to letgo, but everyone’s eyes wereon me. My mind jumped backto a time I went bungee jump-ing in college nearly 20 yearsago. I hesitated then, andalways kind of regretted it.

So, I let go. It wasn’t thatbad, as long as I didn’t thinkabout the fact that nearly1,300 feet below — a nine-second fall — was 30thStreet and certain death.

Barbato said they expect amix of thrill-seekers and peo-ple trying to prove to them-selves that they can over-come their fear of heights.

“We’re going to have thoseurban explorers who are real-ly just looking for somethingwonderful to do in New YorkCity,” said Barbato. “We’realso then going to have thosepeople who really want toprove to themselves that theycan overcome not only theirfears but their hurdles. This isgoing to be a magnificent, lifechanging experience forsome people.”

After what seemed likeminutes — 30 or 40 seconds,in reality — I grabbed the har-ness and pulled myself backin. I’m not afraid of heights,but I respect them: Once Iwas back firmly on the plat-form, it did feel like a bit of anaccomplishment.

Do look down: Scaling one ofNYC's tallest skyscrapers

NEW YORK (AP) — TheU.S. says that it's inviting theglobal community to visit nowthat the government hasended the ban on travelersfrom 33 countries.

In reality, however, it will stillbe difficult — if not impossi-ble — for much of the globeto enter the country andexperts say it will take yearsfor travel to fully recover.

For starters, half the worldisn't vaccinated and thereforedoesn't meet the U.S.requirement for visiting for-eigners. So while manyEuropeans may now be ableto come in, people from poor-er countries where vaccinesare scarce remain cut off,with limited exceptions.

For some public healthexperts, that raises ethicalquestions about the policy.

“The concern is not limitingaccess based on vaccinationstatus,” said Nancy Kass,deputy director of publichealth in the Berman Instituteof Bioethics at JohnsHopkins University. “It is thatit’s systemically making itimpossible for people, gener-ally from poor countries,whose governments havebeen unable to secure any-thing near the supply theyneed, to be able to come andsee their loved ones.”

Even if you've gotten thejab, that might not be goodenough. Non-immigrantadults need to have receivedvaccines authorized by theFood and Drug Administra-tion or which received anemergency use listing fromthe World HealthOrganization, otherwise they,

too, are prohibited fromentering the U.S. That side-lines anyone who's receivedRussia's Sputnik V or theChina-produced CanSinojab.

Then there are the months-long delays in some placesto get a visa. The U.S. TravelAssociation says that, onaverage, there’s a six-monthvisitor visa appointmentbacklog as many U.S. con-sulates and embassies haveyet to resume normal opera-tions. Meanwhile, othercountries have their ownstrict rules, which compli-cates foreign travel.

Experts do expect a waveof travelers at U.S. airports,which will go a long way toboost the overall industry.The 28 European countriesthat up until Monday werebarred under the U.S. policymade up 37% of overseasvisitors in 2019, the U.S.Travel Association says.

Travelport, which analyzesairline bookings data, saysthat by region, the greatestnumber of international trav-elers to the U.S. since mid-2020 has come from LatinAmerica, but new travelersbooking flights since lateSeptember, when the Bidenadministration said it wouldend the travel bans, aremainly European. Thereopening of the land borderswith Canada and Mexicoshould also help restore trav-el, since they are typically thetop two sources of interna-tional visitors to the U.S.

But the U.S. TravelAssociation predicted in Junethat international travel would

not return to 2019 levels ofnearly 80 million visitors until2024. Foreign travelersdropped to 19 million in 2020and is expected to rise a bitthis year, to more than 26 mil-lion; it will more than double,to about 57 million, in 2022but still fall far short of its pre-pandemic heights.

The U.S. isn’t alone in try-ing to jump-start travel asmore people get vaccinated.Some countries that closedtheir borders have beguneasing back, like Australia,India and Thailand; Europeopened its doors toAmericans months ago.

Others, like China andJapan, remain essentiallyclosed, which makes it diffi-cult for their own citizens toleave and come backbecause of mandatory quar-antines. In 2019, the twocountries were among thetop five biggest sources ofoverseas visitors to the U.S.,along with the U.K., SouthKorea and Brazil, accordingto U.S. government data.

Sylvia Li, who is from Chinaand lives in the U.S., justmarried her partner in a smallceremony in New York a fewweeks ago without her familythere because she had noidea when they’d be able tocome or when she’d be ableto go to China.

“I was able to convincethem, it’s really nothing, it’sjust a party,” Li said. But hermom didn’t fall for it. “I thinkmy mom felt she was missingout. She felt like she wasactually missing somethingbig.”

Despite reopening, the U.S.is still closed to many in world

that Neumann stood at thefront of a police barricadewearing a red “Make AmericaGreat Again” hat as support-ers of President DonaldTrump tried to force past offi-cers. Prosecutors sayNeumann taunted andscreamed at the policebefore putting a gas maskover his face and threatenedone officer, saying policewould be “overrun” by thecrowd.

“I’m willing to die, are you?”prosecutors quoted Neu-mann saying to the officer.

Police body camerafootage shows Neumann andothers shoving a metal barri-

cade into a line of officerswho were trying to push thecrowd back before hepunched two officers with hisfist and then hit them with thebarricade, according to courtpapers.

Neumann was identified byinvestigators after someonewho said they were a familyfriend called an FBI tip linewith Neumann’s name andhometown. He was chargedin a U.S. federal criminalcomplaint, meaning a judgeagreed that investigators pre-sented sufficient probablecause that Neumann hadcommitted the crimes.

Neumann is one of morethan 650 people who havebeen charged for theiractions on Jan. 6, when pro-Trump rioters attacked theCapitol building and delayed

Congress’ certification of JoeBiden’s Electoral College vic-tory.

Neumann told Belarus 1that his photo had beenadded to the FBI's mostwanted list, after which he leftthe country under the pre-tense of a business trip.Neuman, who owns a hand-bag manufacturing business,traveled to Italy in March, andthen through Switzerland,Germany and Poland beforearriving in Ukraine and spentseveral months there.

He said he decided to ille-gally cross into neighboringBelarus after he noticed sur-veillance by Ukraine's securi-ty forces. “It is awful. It is polit-ical persecution,” Neumanntold the TV channel.

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Recycling CenterThe Recycling Center,

1033 S. H St., has newhours of operation. TheRecycle Center is openWednesday and Thursdayfrom 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. TheCenter is closed on Fridayand open Saturday from 9a.m. to noon. For furtherinformation or for anyonewanting to sign up for curb-side recycling, call 552-7080.When coming to the RecycleCenter, individuals must stayin their vehicles and areencouraged to have items intheir trunk or hatch.