Post 91 - June 10, 2020

Day 91…

It feels like we are in the eye of the storm.

Hurricanes spin in a circle around a central point. That central point stays calm. As the storm travels, so does the eye. So, in the midst of a massive hurricane, suddenly there can be a moment of blue skies and peace.

That’s what it feels like here in the city.

Everything seems completely chill. The weather is clear and hot.

George Floyd was laid to rest yesterday in Houston. In tribute, there were peaceful marches throughout the city. The Bushwick Daily has not listed any planned demonstrations for today in New York.

50a, a law that kept police disciplinary records hidden from public view was repealed yesterday. This is a law that activists have long targeted as a screen behind which corruption has been able to thrive. Well, now, just like that, it’s gone. A ban on chokeholds, named after Eric Garner, passed easily through NY’s legislature. Remarkably, all of these measures have been supported by both Republicans and by Democrats.

There are definite steps forward being made, but there is a still a long fight ahead of us. A disgusting trend of white people posting joke pictures of themselves kneeling on their friends’ necks has started.  I even saw one yesterday of a mother kneeling on her own daughter. It’s deplorable on every level. There is clearly much, much, much more work to be done.

The coronavirus case rate is still very low here in New York. Every indicator is well below the amounts that would stop the reopening of the state’s economy from proceeding. Because the numbers are so low, there is now even a possibility that the city’s pools and parks may re-open before the end of the summer.

I wonder how long the 7pm applause for the health care workers will continue. The lady, formerly in the red bathrobe, across from us still comes out more often than not. The sound she makes banging on her pan is what makes me realize what time it is. The guy on the messy terrace is still usually there as are most of the people in the building across 97th Street.

The eye of the storm is definitely sitting on top of New York City at the moment. Around us, though, it seems like the storm is still surging.

19 states are seeing a steady rise in the number of people being infected and hospitalized for COVID-19. Hospital capacity in Arizona is nearing its limit. 78% of the ICU beds in the state are currently in use. Other states, like North Carolina, for one, are breaking their own records with the number of people hospitalized.

Officials are urging people who participated in the Black Lives Matter protests around the country to get tested.

25,000 retail stores are expected to be closed for good this year. Hardest hit will likely be the nation’s malls which may bear the brunt of 60% of those closures. J.C. Penny, J. Crew and Neiman Marcus have all filed for bankruptcy. Brooks Brothers and the parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks are in discussions about doing the same. Many other companies are closing large percentages of their store locations. Those retailers include Pier One Imports, Victoria’s Secret, and GNC, but there are hundreds of others.

The larger retailers are often what attract people to shopping malls.  The smaller specialty stores then get the benefit of that foot traffic.  Without those anchor stores, most of the smaller stores won’t stand a chance.

All of that is going to radically change what our country’s economy looks like. The combination of all of those people remaining unemployed plus the contracting of the retail sector doesn’t bode well for things reverting to what they once were. Amazon, Walmart and Target, all retailers with massive online platforms, have seen their orders surge. After three months of us all living at home, that’s now what we’ve become used to doing. Grocery stores have continued operating but we have learned to look online for almost everything else.

We have also learned to do without. I am not all that interested in going shopping for things that I don’t need given that I have just spent the last three months getting rid of stuff.

I’m looking out of the window of our apartment at a green, leafy expanse. People are out walking. We are meant to get rain later on in the day, but for now it’s clear and bright.

There are battles ahead of us. Some we will be prepared for and some will come at us out of the blue.

If our trending continues, we may move into Phase 2 of our reopening here in the city by the end of the month. Office-based jobs, real estate services, in-store shopping, barbershops and hair salons, and outdoor dining will all be permitted to operate. Malls, indoor dining, gyms, movie theatres, anything having to do with public amusement like zoos or play centers will all still be closed.

It will be a step.

We can’t think that this is all over, but we can take a moment and catch our breath.

A friend of mine who works in real estate regularly posts a newsletter about the history of New York. The other day, he posted the earliest known photograph taken in the city. It was from 1848 and was taken on the Upper West Side, somewhere near where Michael and I live. It shows a house on a hill with a large fenced in space and a road (Broadway?). It’s a farm. The road is out of sight in a cut and is probably unpaved.

The people who lived in that house could not possibly have imagined what their land would look like 172 years in the future. The house is gone. The fence is gone. Even the hill upon which they stood, is gone.

1848 was the year of the Seneca Falls Convention that launched the women’s suffrage movement. I am sure that there were many people at the time thought that giving women the right to vote would destroy society.

It didn’t. But it changed.

We may be in the eye of the storm at the moment, but we are ALWAYS in the eye of one storm or another. That is what the human condition is.

Somewhere around 500BC a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change.” 

Nobody knows for sure what is going to happen with the economy, with the virus or with the struggle for racial equality. On top of that, something else, equally, life-changing may be lurking out there waiting to drop.

OMG! - What can we do about it?

Today, what those of us who are not working can do, is put on a mask and go outside in this glorious weather and take a walk. Enjoy the calm. Enjoy the sun. Neither will likely last, they never do, but for today, we seem to have both. So, enjoy them. Shake it out and take a deep breath.

Change is coming as it always does.

Let’s see what it’s going to be.