While some neighborhoods in New York have returned to their pre-pandemic life, some areas are still deserted, six months after the start of the coronavirus crisis. “It really is a two-faced city,” testifies the independent journalist Alexis Buisson.
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He himself lives in a neighborhood north of Manhattan that was completely paralyzed at the start of the pandemic. However, life has since resumed. It’s a very lively neighborhood, there are a lot of people in the street, there is music and street vendors
describes Alexis Buisson.
Conversely, the business districts, where office buildings dominate, are still completely deserted today. Activity is picking up at a very slow pace.
It must be said that the authorities have put a lot of effort into limiting the spread of COVID-19. New York has spent the last 30 days with an infection rate of less than 1%, which is huge when you see how far we’ve come since May.
says the journalist.
Businesses and services are gradually resuming their activities throughout the city, but many will not recover from the prolonged closure. According to Alexis Buisson, around 1,000 New York restaurants have closed their doors permanently.
The lure of the suburbs
The journalist explains that by observing the cell phone log, the New York Times found that about 5% of New Yorkers left the city in the first three months of the pandemic. Impossible to say for the moment if they will return there one day.
In any case, I can tell you that there is great pride on the part of New Yorkers who have remained
says Alexis Buisson.
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