#2 Newswriting Assignment
Headline: Life in New York City during COVID-19
Destiny Ayala is a
New York Photographer walking around downtown Manhattan on a Friday evening. She
sees familiar buildings; however, she also notices an eerie stillness in the
streets. Given the circumstances the lack of cars, pedestrians, and tourists in
the area was normal. The question many New Yorkers like Ayala have, is what
life will look like after COVID-19.
Figure 1 Times
Square, New York City before the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York City has had over 200,000
confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March 1st. The encouraging news is
there are now only 5.2 cases per 100,000 people (Choi, Velasquez, & Welch,
2020). The sharp decrease in cases has allowed New York City to slowly re-open.
It has also allowed residents to think about the future of their city.
Residents like Ayala feel that New York City
has come along way these past several months. “One positive has been a sense of
togetherness to one another. I feel before the pandemic everyone was in their
own world, the pandemic snapped everyone out of that New York rhythm and slowed
them down. To a degree I feel some people appreciated that but i think it
helped change everyone’s attitude toward each other and be nicer,” said Ayala.
“This has shown people to appreciate the things they have, along with their
loved ones.”
Figure 2 Times
Square, New York City during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Most Manhattan office employees
continue working from home, as overall about 10 percent of offices in Manhattan
were back open as of Sept., 18 (Grant & Tucker, 2020). Office employees
such as Jean Rarig, are looking forward to returning into the office. “I miss
my mornings of going into the subway, grabbing my coffee and then the commute back
home in the evening,” says Rarig. “I felt that my workday had an actual ending
rather than having the always on mindset when I work from home.”
Looking ahead, residents are left
wondering what life in the Big Apple will look like after COVID-19. Residents that
saw the effects of COVID-19 firsthand, are primarily focused on new safety
precautions. “My biggest concern once we are past COVID-19 is continued implementation
of masks and social distancing.,” says Rarig. “Today when I go out on the
street around 90 percent of people I see are wearing masks, I could see that
dropping to 5 percent once we return to normal.”
Over the past few months New York
City has continued to safely re-open business. Gyms, museums, and bowling
alleys were approved to re-open Aug., 25th (Slotnik, 2020). Indoor
dining was re-opened with 25 percent capacity on Sept., 30 (Mckinley, Otterman,
& Goldstein, 2020). Many residents like Ayala and Rarig, are waiting for
New York City to fully reopen so they can return to their daily routines.
Works Cited:
"New York City - Times Square" by James Willamor
is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
"2020 Times Square Coronavirus COVID-19 NYC 9771"
by Brechtbug is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license,
visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
Choi, A., Velasquez, J., & Welch, W. (2020, October 01).
Coronavirus in New York City. Retrieved October 03, 2020, from
https://projects.thecity.nyc/2020_03_covid-19-tracker/
Grant, P. & Tucker, E. (2020, September 29). Manhattan
Offices Are Nearly Empty, Threatening New York City's Recovery. Retrieved
October 03, 2020, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/manhattan-offices-are-nearly-empty-threatening-new-york-citys-recovery-11601371800
Mckinley, J., Otterman, S., & Goldstein, J. (2020,
September 09). N.Y.C. to Allow Indoor Dining, in Milestone on Recovery From
Pandemic. Retrieved October 03, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/nyregion/indoor-dining-coronavirus.html
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