One Direction on losing Zayn Malik: 'It was a tough time'

Zayn Malik bundles up from the rain in a hoodie and flannel while stepping out on Wednesday night (November 11) in New York City.

The 22-year-old singer’s former One Direction band mates recently opened up about making their new record without him.

“Obviously when you get the finished product, a voice that was there before isn’t there anymore, so obviously that’s different,” Harry Styles told People. “But we set out to make a record that we felt is our best one, and we really have been really proud of the fact that we feel like we’ve done that.”

Niall Horan added, “It was a tough time. We took 10 weeks of our tour to literally just go into the studio and spent that time in L.A. And a lot of time in London on writing. That’s probably why we’re so proud of it.”

10+ pictures inside of Zayn Malik out and about in the Big Apple…