COVID-19 and New York City: Down But Never Out
By Adina Bernstein
Anyone who has lived in or visited New York City can attest to her unique energy and character. The phrase “the city that never sleeps” is more than a catchphrase. It is a lifestyle. That is, until last year, when COVID-19 hit.
When everything shut down last March, like many people, I assumed it would be temporary. Working from home for a few weeks and only going out when necessary wasn’t a big deal. Then a few weeks turned into a few months and before any of us knew it, it has been nearly a year. In addition to commuting to Manhattan from my home in Brooklyn for work five days a week, I had a full schedule of non-work-related activities. Having a weekend that had nothing on the schedule was a rarity.
Nowadays, it is the opposite. I have not been inside my office in 11 months. My company has gone completely remote. We still don’t know when we will all be in the same physical space. I don’t miss getting up at the crack of dawn and hoping that I will get a seat in on the train. What I do miss is my colleagues and the casual non-work conversations that occur in passing. Both my writing group and my martial arts class are held via Zoom. As much as I appreciate that I can still attend via the internet, I miss the interactions with other people and the physical feeling of hitting a bag. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen family or friends in person.
New York is a shadow of her former self. Broadway, movie theaters, and other performing arts venues have shut down completely. The millions of tourists from around the country and around the world who have made New York a destination vacation is down to a trickle. My company is located in midtown Manhattan, across the street from Bryant Park. I used to grumble about visitors who took pictures of buildings like they have never seen a building before. Weaving my way through the crowd to get to wherever I needed to go was normal. Holding my bag close and mumbling how much I wanted the people around me to pick up the pace has become second nature. When I go into Manhattan now, I still hold onto my bag, but I can walk at normal speed.
One of the hardest aspects of the COVID shutdown was missing Coney Island. I lived in Sheepshead Bay till I was nearly 14. To some it is just a boardwalk, a beach, and an amusement park. For me, it is a place of beloved childhood memories. Stepping onto the boardwalk and smelling the sea air is akin to being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Instead of making multiple visits as I would during non-pandemic times, I only went once this summer. It was Labor Day weekend and I needed to go. Previous Labor Day weekend throngs have been nearly shoulder to shoulder. This year, there was more than enough room to walk. Though it is only a 20-minute train ride, the fear of getting sick kept me away from what is essentially my happy place.
We survived 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy. When the towers fell, I was in college in upstate New York. Though I was hundreds of miles away, the fear of potentially losing everyone and everything I loved was visceral. That feeling will be with me for the rest of my life. When Sandy came ashore in 2012, my first prayer was that I would survive and my building would stay in one piece. I slept in my living room with a packed bag nearby, ready to go in case the tree in front of my building fell into my bedroom. I know that we will be able to get through COVID-19. New York and her residents are nothing if not strong. We can and will get through this. I know we can.
Adina Bernstein is a New York City born and bred writer, who like many writers, has a day job to pay the bills. She has been published in MovieBabble.com, How to be a Redhead, and The Mighty, among other publications. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram at Writergurlny. You can read more of her work on her blog https://writergurlny.wordpress.com/ and on her portfolio https://adinabernstein.contently.com/.
This originally appeared on the COVID-19 Wall of Memories website on February 14, 2021.
