New York

These appear to be the current restrictions. Whether there will be changes to these mandates by late January would be anyone's best guess. Hopefully, someone who lives in the city will chime in (we have friends who live & work in Manhattan).

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-vaccines-keytonyc.page

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-19-face-covering-faq.pdf

In my experience all attractions, restaurants, etc. are being very strict in observing and enforcing regulations. They carefully check vaccination cards against IDs upon entry.

My (very wealthy! also vaxxed and boostered) cousin has decamped with young family to their rural CT second home, from Manhatten. It may be the identified case #s have started to decline, by the time of your trip.
Regardless, were it me, I would plan for options less likely to have cancellations due to actor/staff illness)- museums, vs Broadway shows and the like. (If things improve you could always try for last minute tickets.)
Also, 2 days back from travel last week my SIL tested positive for Covid, also 3X vaxxed. You have a short trip, but, while all could be vastly improving in a few weeks, factoring in flight cancellations and a potential quarantine after arrival ( or once home) would be my concern, over closures.

Well KBK, we had tix to fly IND to NY to spend Christmas with our NY kids, but the triple-vaxxed, always masked 36-year old son got Omicron. On top of it, some of the restaurants he had reserved were closed because the personnel were sick. That's the past week; as for the future, my crystal ball blew itself up in frustration.

Update: recovered, out and about, including dining in restaurants.

And... a new mayor with a new administration takes over this weekend. One can only guess what changes will be made.

I visited NYC in mid-October and to get into any museum or attraction like the Empire State Bldg you needed a timed ticket and had to show proof of vaccination and ID, same for eating inside any restaurant. Masks were required inside any buildings and on public transport but on the street it was about 50/50. I worried that I wouldn't enjoy myself but that was not at all the case, I really felt they were taking great precautions and appreciated that--plus there's plenty to do and see outdoors, though January might not be the most ideal time for outdoors.

We made a morning visit yesterday to Zabar's and Orwasher's bakery ( Broadway , Amsterdam Ave. and West 81st ) . Very tame with total mask compliance ( no under the nose messaging ) should be a relatively busy week in town through the first , approaching the winter doldrums . Bets , hope he is OK ?

We live close to Manhattan but haven’t been to the city in over a year. But I know even in Brooklyn they are checking Covid cards with ID. Not a big deal if you are vaccinated. Will things change when Mr. Adams takes office, we shall see.

The regulations that are currently in place (that are likely to affect a tourist/visitor) are:

• Vaccination requirement for indoor dining, nightlife, bars, entertainment, cultural attractions, etc. This is a NY City-set requirement.
• Mask mandate for any public indoors venue that does not have a vaccine requirement. This is a NY State-set requirement -- note it only came into effect on 12/10, in response to the widespread Omicron spread, and is currently set to extend through 1/15/22.
• Mask mandate (regardless of vaccination status) on public transportation, on airplanes and in airports. These are federally set requirements.

Here's my personal observations, as someone who lives and works in the 5 boroughs (spending time mostly in western Queens and Manhattan). Please note of course these are completely my own lived experiences, and someone else who lives in NYC but moves and works in different circles may have different experiences.

• With a couple of exceptions, nearly every indoors venue that I have been to has asked me for vaccine documentation (a card, a picture of a card, or digital proof are all universally accepted in my experience). The degree to which venues actually check if the vaccination proof matches ID varies widely -- some are quite strict, while some venues are content with seeing a vaccination card for half a second.
• Mask compliance on public transportation varies widely. As a ballpark I'd say it's somewhere around 70% of passengers wearing them, though it varies based on time of day -- the least compliant tends to be in the middle of the night, the most compliant during weekday morning rush hours.
• I believe stores and restaurants are allowed to be more restrictive than the state/city guidelines, i.e. if they want to require vaccination for outdoor dining, that is allowed. (This is not very common at all, but I have run into this situation once or twice.)
• There's no outdoor mask mandate whatsoever and I would say that post-vaccination/pre-Omicron less than 50% of people I saw on the street were masked. However, this seems to have gone back up with the arrival of Omicron.

It is hard to say what the restrictions might be in January. My husband I a returned from a long weekend trip on the 20th. We were asked for our vaccination cards and ID for all indoor dining. We booked several Broadway shows that were cancelled at the last minute due to COVID outbreaks amongst the cast. I was able to get last minute tickets for Kill a Mockingbird.

There were long lines for COVID testing on every street corners and I would say about 50% of the people outdoors walking around were wearing masks. I did not take the subway or visit any traditional tourist attractions as we were there for holiday shopping and shows. The stores were relatively crowded and so were the holiday markets.

I would check in closer to your departure time to see what restrictions will be in place and whether it will be worthwhile for you to take the trip.

Good luck,
Sandy

You couldn't pay me to go to NYC these days with all the restrictions and crime.

Well , the restrictions are everywhere , I'm sure you've noticed . As NYC is certainly a Den of Thieves ( and murderers , as well ) . I wonder how those of us who live here have managed to stay alive and well for decades .

You couldn't pay me to go to NYC these days with all the restrictions
and crime.

Well, good thing no one is offering.

Thanks for the feedback and Happy New Year!

I hope you have a great time. I’ve travelled to NYC many times pre-Covid and just love it, although I would probably wait for warmer weather and a drop in case numbers at this point.

Restrictions are not everywhere. Much of the country is open.