NY1’s Valarie D’Elia heads to the platform of the Second Avenue subway, and looks at how tourism is getting on board the Q train in this Travel With Val report.
The Director of Sales and Marketing at the Marmara Manhattan on 94th and Second has not yet taken the new Q train extension, but she’s all over it.
“So it is pretty great. I’m getting a lot of messages for it and calls, so it's good. It's good for the business too,” says Neslihan Cafer-Montez of Marmara Manhattan.
Cafer-Montez has her picture plastered all over the Q, as part of MTA marketing designed to benefit the long-suffering businesses along the new Second Avenue subway route.
“To have a subway on the corner of the hotel is pretty amazing,” she says.
So amazing, Cafer-Montez says business at her extended-stay hotel has spiked as much as 30 percent since the Q made its way up and down Second Avenue. Michael Riordan of Sydney, Australia has been staying at the Marmara for the past year, and says he is noticing more tourists in the area.
"This part of town is really, really nice because you can walk down the East River on the boardwalk down there, you’ve got the mayor’s place, so a lot of people are coming up to this part of town that would never have been up here before or made the trip,” Riordan says.
The Second Avenue Subway is also attracting the attention of Florida’s Gulf Coast tourism, which has an onboard campaign for the next two months.
“The eyeballs that we’re going to get on that brand new line is an awesome thing,” says David Downing, president and CEO of Visit St. Pete Clearwater.
For more travel news and tips, visit TravelWithVal.com.