As the headline read on Patch this morning: NYC Now Epicenter Of Coronavirus Crisis As Cases Reach 4K: Mayor. New York represents 30% of the country’s cases, and 70% of the cases in the state are in NYC.
GOOD NEWS: LIQUOR STORES ARE CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL AND WILL REMAIN OPEN
As this continues day after day, there’s the weird conundrum of: this can’t be the only thing we talk about and/but/well how can we talk about anything else?
But, within the ambit of this strange world, there’s actually a lot going on. Part of that is the constant status updates every day (multiple times a day). Another part, though, is all the different things the community is doing in accommodating the new normal. Things that are helpful, that are moving, that are funny. And by community, I mean the whole city.
There’s an odd, good song by Paul McCartney called “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” and it’s the song perpetually stuck in my head (do you have one of those?) Or really, just one line of it, which goes: Hands across the water (water) Heads across the sky… Usually, it just annoys whoever I’m with. Right now though, I’m finding it fitting. Because I’m thinking about the Village. And I’m thinking about the neighborhood where I reside in Brooklyn off of Prospect Park. And I’m visualizing hands, reaching out across the East River, connecting with each other. (Heads across the sky, I got nothing for.)
There’s a niceness to that aspect of this thing. It’s the silver lining. The streak of goodness that always seems to shine during hard times.
So. Here are some ways the locals are…
Laughing:
Caveat, The Lower East Side performance space is livestreaming different types of comedy shows every weekday night on a “pay-what-you-can” system.
Reading:
The fantastic West Village bookstore Three Lives & Company has to close shop on Sunday, March 22nd, but is taking orders for curbside pickup and delivery today and tomorrow from 10am to 6pm, and will be open until 4pm on Sunday.
Reading/cooking:
Bonnie’s Lotnick Cookbooks in the East Village will gladly mail requests or deliver locally. Call 212-989-8962 or email bonnieslotnickbooks@earthlink.net.
Drinking:
As one friend put it to me:
Good thing it’s been since clarified that they are, in fact, essential.
Also, these places are offering takeout and delivery alcohol.
These too.
getting some musical stylings:
Marie's Crisis, The Greenwich Village piano bar that got its name from Thomas Paine’s Crisis pamphlets and has been around since the 1800s (cool), and is also where Payne died (cool, but dreary), is staying open as a virtual piano bar every night.
getting a culture fix:
The Met Opera is playing “Nightly Met Opera Streams,” free performances every night.
Anderson Contemporary, an art gallery downtown, is displaying its scheduled contemporary art exhibit online.
The Frick has a virtual tour.
Loads of other museums with online exhibits (including the MOMA, the Children's Museum of the Arts, the Whitney, the Brooklyn Museum), via Google Cultural Institute’s Arts & Culture platform.
Saying goodbye (for now):
The signs various establishments have put in their doors while they are closed down for the foreseeable future.
JAKE DOBKIN / GOTHAMIST
helping each other:
NYC Reddit users who are working from home or don’t plan on going anywhere are using the platform to coordinate, giving their unused MetroCards to essential workers.
Plus all these organizations aiding vulnerable seniors, donating food, and setting up emergency funds.
coping with working from home:
And, just because I KNOW you want to hear it:
Do be safe, stay healthy, eat, drink, help, laugh, cook. Probably Don’t get your feet up off the ground, live a little, get around (I KNEW you wanted to hear it.)