Let me start by reintroducing myself. My name is John, I’m 41 years old (that so doesn’t sound right), and I am Boro Born. I spend the the first almost 20 years staring at NYC from my Middle Village apartment almost every day. NYC is the place I love. It’s not just my first love, NYC has been my only love. I am Boro Born and I feel privileged about that.
I have never seen NYC like this before. The city is empty and it’s eery. Like end of world eery. I decided to take a ride in the and check it out. Armed with a mask, gloves, hand sanitizer and my car, I trekked out. These are my take aways. A city I never thought could close down was closed. The real scary thing about this, is it didn’t take a plane to strike a building, or a bullet fired. It was a virus. From what I read Covid was not lab created, it was a natural. Nature really broke one off.
Covid has weaponized humans. Other humans have become living, breathing death machines. I used to have mild symptoms of social anxiety. I noticed that has ramped up ten fold. I wanted to ride the subway like normal, just to experience it. Photograph it, I could not bring myself to try it. Fear rendered me incapable. I could not fathom being stuck in a train car with someone else.
I never seen Chinatown empty. East Broadway was desolate. The Financial District had nothing but cops in the area. Every bar, grill or restaurant had steel shutters drawn. The normally busy sidewalks had one or two people walking their dogs, complete with face masks and gloves. People are obviously taking this seriously… And they should!
Times Square looked like it was right out of a bad “B” horror movie. Everything looked in place except for the people. It was right out of The Devil’s Advocate. Then it struck me. In the 4 hours I spent in NYC, I haven’t seen a single cab! Not one!
My curiosity led me to Astoria. I know this section of Queens, especially right off 21st Ave is one of the hubs for cabs. This is where the garages the medallions are associated with are located. It was a ghost town. Every cab stand had shuttles drawn and lights out. Thats when I realized how bad Coronavirus is!
From Astoria I was able to make it to The George Washington Bridge, via side streets in Manhattan in less than 15 minutes! That normally takes 45- 60 minutes. The West Side Highway had nobody there.
I agree with the local politicians De Blasio, and Governor Cuomo to shut the city down. It was the only reasonable thing to do. I just didn’t think it was possible! I appreciate the cops, the medics and hospital staff. In a time we all are trying to kill time, they put themselves and their families in harms way, for people they don’t even know. Personally speaking, I believe this quarantine must go on as long as it needs to! We can not afford a second outbreak. One is bad, second would be devastating.
I can not wait to see all your smiling faces. I can not wait to debate topics with you in person, but for now this is what we have to go thru. It won’t be forever. Please continue to quarantine. Please stay safe, I want to see you guys again!
