“Everything can change
In a New York minute
Things can get pretty strange
In a New York minute.”
We’re on pause, people. New York’s stay-at-home order went into effect at 8 p.m on Sunday, and this world doesn’t look like my city.
But New Yorkers will be New Yorkers. Whether out on the streets or hunkered down at home.
Or singing out their windows together.
And other things the NYC community is doing…
Getting married. Oh you know, one of those traditional ordained-friend-marries-you-from-his-fourth-floor-window-after-city-closes-Marriage-Bureau-during-pandemic weddings.
Appropriately read (or shouted) during the social distancing themed ceremony: an excerpt from “Love in the Time of Cholera.”
Feeding city kids. The NYC Department of Education is providing “grab and go” meals for all children under 18 throughout the city. Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. No registration, ID, or documentation required. Enter your borough, school district, or zip code to find the nearest pickup location.
And how many health care volunteers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? No clue, probably one. But it only took 24 hours for 1,000 retired NYC health care workers to volunteer in supporting the overburdened health systems.
Also, this Reddit user who reminded fellow New Yorkers (or in my case, provided a brand new piece of trivia) that the lions outside The New York Public Library are named Patience and Fortitude.
P.S. - if you’re looking to fritter away time, which I have no idea why you would be, take the NYPL’s thrilling quiz: Are You Patience or Fortitude?
One industry clearly practicing patience and fortitude right now is the restaurant industry. These Downtown Manhattan restaurants have set up GoFundMe pages for local eaters to support their favorite local eateries.
Now, how about some songs to play while we’re on pause?
If you’re not lucky enough to be harmonizing Yellow Submarine with your neighbors, here are some tunes which incidentally follow the trajectory of what we’re doing and how we’re feeling these days— about, performed in, or by bands from New York.
Bowie. “Turn and face the strange. Ch-ch-changes…”
“I Can’t Touch You Anymore,” says Stephin Merritt. And by “you” I’m assuming he means his face. (Also, as this 1999 Observer article put it, Merritt went from being an “unsung East Village songwriter” to being compared to Warren Zevon, David Baerwald, and Elvis Costello):
Still, it’s tempting to ask why can’t I touch it? (and by “it” I assume they mean their face):
Dirty Projectors fittingly covered John Lennon’s “Isolation.” It’s really good. You can stream it and pay as you wish, with the proceeds going to MusiCares’ COVID-19 relief fund to help those in the music community who need it.
Apparently, New York songwriting duo Hal David and Burt Bacharach just didn’t know what to do with this song. Dusty Springfield just doesn’t know what to do with herself. I think I’m in the same boat. Maybe we can all just take that NYPL patience or fortitude quiz:
“And if you close the door
The night could last forever
Leave the sunshine out
And say hello to never
All the people are dancing
And they're having such fun
I wish it could happen to me
Cause if you close the door
I'd never have to see the day again”
I always loved this Velvet Underground song with drummer Moe Tucker on lead vocals:
More of wanting to go out. Really wanting to go out:
Self-explanatory:
Celine Dion singing “All By Myself” at the Barclays Center on March 7. Eerily right before things took a sharp turn:
Which in retrospect, this post-concert subway station sing-along may not have been the best idea:
My Sharona. Either you get it or you don’t. Or if you didn’t but now you do… sorry and good luck:
End of the day, we’re New Yorkers. We have patience AND fortitude. We know how to support, laugh, sing.
Dorothy Parker said, “As only New Yorkers know, if you can get through the twilight, you'll live through the night.”
Here’s to the twilight passing, and us being able to sing:
But for now, back to some sage words from Bowie: