The Big Apple before and after

Today my son, senior BFA Acting in New York, decided that he will live with us in the suburbs of New York for the next six months. He is going to give up his apartment in Brooklyn where he hasn't been since March. Because what is the point of returning to the city when the 'buzz' is no longer there, you are largely going to receive online lessons and there is a great chance of a second Covid peak? It turns out he is not the only one. His peers decide to stay with their parents for the time being, and many people with a second home elsewhere in the US are far from returning. House prices are skyrocketing in suburbia because many families have decided to seek refuge where it seems relatively safer and social distancing is easier.

The corona virus has apparently fueled the outflow of people from the city. About 420,000 residents have fled New York in recent months. The majority of those who left during the pandemic are wealthy. Many of them went to low tax havens in the south, such as Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

But since the unemployment rate in New York City has also risen above 14 percent, that 1% will not be the only group to turn its back on the city. Simply because you cannot afford the rents without a job. Add to that all commuters who work at home for the next couple of months and the 60 million tourists who no longer enter the city and yes, it is a lot more quiet and empty in the streets of New York.

Businesses boarded up in Soho NYC

 Back to the seventies?

 You can walk quietly in the middle of Columbus Ave and the garbage is piled up much less than usual. In Times Square, you can almost hear the buzz of electronic signs glowing above empty sidewalks. Mail that went to Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan for Corona is now going to Maine and Connecticut…

 Without wanting to be too pessimistic, I can imagine that the cumulative effect of the coronavirus will continue for a long time. Streets with deserted storefronts, closed restaurants and empty buildings and office towers are likely to result, and only those who do not have the means to leave, will remain.

 Will the Big Apple fall into the bad situation of the 1970s in the coming years? Or can we also see something good in this rapid change of city-life?

 (New) Amsterdam

 In Amsterdam, for example, residents never want to return to what the city was like before Corona. Mokum had become a stressed and chaotic place with 863,000 grumpy residents and nine million noisy tourists. The shops in the center had been taken over in recent decades by waffles, souvenirs and cannabis seeds, and house prices skyrocketed. Of course it is unrealistic to think the Amsterdam economy can do without tourists, but less crowds would be desirable.

 My friend who lives on a boat at the Oudeschans, a wide canal near the red light district says: “Before Corona, especially the Nieuwmarkt and the red light district were flooded with tourists. There was litter everywhere and it was stressful, if not impossible, to cycle in certain streets. Now the red light district is a gift. There is so much beauty! I have more contact with my neighbors, the canals are clearer than ever and nature in the city is flourishing. The constant noise is gone and there is peace. Amsterdam is cleaner, quieter, neater. "

 But what about New Amsterdam? How different does it feel to be a New Yorker after Corona? What has changed and do we still want to return to what it was like? Is the future really that grim or can we also see bright lights during this dark time? And above all what is it, we would like to stay after Covid? I asked Veerle and Katherine who respectively live in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

 An empty agenda

 In New York the peace and quiet in the city also turns out to be very soothing. Veerle: "Being able to cycle without being doored or hitting a pedestrian walking along the cycle path, is a real blessing." Katherine especially likes the emptiness in her social agenda. “Having my evenings free and being able to do something for myself is great. I’ve started learning Japanese, but I am afraid that as soon as everything opens again, I will no longer have time for my lessons.”

 And yet the situation is of course far from ideal. Schools are closed, travel is banned, museums and restaurants are closed ...

For Katherine the schools can't open early enough. “It is so important for the children to learn together with peers. What seems to be happening now is that the schools are only going to run half classes. Half of the kids learn at home one day and in school the next. I do not understand this. Either open or close the schools, because this ‘muddling on’ only creates chaos and ambiguity.” Veerle would be very happy if she can travel freely again, both to Europe and in the US. “I really don't like the fact that we can't travel to and from Europe to see my family and my new little nephew.”

Times Square during Covid-19

 The importance of freedom

 That freedom to do whatever you want is also important in everyday life. Wearing a mask, in the elevator, in the supermarket, in shops, doesn’t really bother Veerle. “But the ease of grabbing a Citibike (without gloves), passing people (without thinking about 6 feet) and doing my shopping (without having to disinfect everything). Have a spontaneous bite somewhere… Many restaurants that now have outdoor dining do not take reservations and I don't like to wait for a table. Well, fortunately these are still huge luxury problems, but I can’t help missing it.”

 Katherine especially thinks the feeling of ‘walking in somewhere without thinking it over’ is a loss. “Today, for example, I went to the supermarket with my young kids and then wanted to run into TJMaxx for a quick look. But we went home instead, because I didn't feel like telling my kids continuously to wear their masks, spray hand sanitizer and yelling at them: ”Don't touch anything! Where's your mask? Come here with your hands. Spray spray. ”

What forever changed

Veerle notes that she is much more wary in the city than she likes. “My experience is that many Americans don't take the rules too seriously. They don't keep their distance, or just don't think about it.”

That sounds like old-fashioned New York: Individualistic and rushed without thinking. But what then, has forever changed in New York?

According to Veerle, it is the realization that not anything is possible always. That it is not always normal to be able to move freely. And that it is also great fun (like in Amsterdam) to go to a park with a picnic basket for brunch or drinks instead of spending $ 150 for a 2-hour shift brunch in a trendy place. It made me thankful for what is: my health and the freedom to go out and take a walk.”

Going inwards

Her feeling is also that people have started to look more inwards out of necessity. “For many people, it has changed priorities. And maybe it’s for the better to be less externally oriented. My husband and I for example have found a really nice twist in our daily routine, both weekdays and weekends. I really feel we are more in contact with each other."

The peace and quiet that Katherine feels and wants to keep in her agenda is also an example of going inwards. She thinks that people have come to appreciate their time more and became more conscious of their daily life. She started to eat more consciously during her quarantine and became vegan.

“We got so lost in the city's Rat Race. I think that we are now more aware of what makes us happy and that we will make more time for happiness instead of running blindly with the crowd. At least, I hope so…”

By Ingeborg van ’t Pad Bosch
Editor-in-Chief at deWereldwijven.com
For NL CLUB NYC - July 2nd 2020