Too early for the swan song – New York City is alive!

The mega-metropolis on the Hudson River has often been declared dead. Now it is slowly blossoming again after the Corona crisis. The economic scars, however, are deep, and especially the homeless are struggling.

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“Excuse me, sir, how about a shoeshine?” What happens in New York City is what would be unthinkable in Zurich – namely that a homeless person asks total strangers if he can shine their shoes. In any case, Alton * is in these days Washington Square Park on the go and offers its services. “I’m really struggling this morning,” the dark-skinned man in his mid-thirties murmurs before he finds the right tone, “I’ll make your shoes shine, you can give me what you want in return.”

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