What a year
Monday’s issue comes exactly one year after Andrew Kyomo from the government signed the “New York State at PAUSE” executive order – officially shutting down Empire State in an effort to slow the spread of coronovirus.
All non-essential businesses shut down and New Yorkers were urged to stay home as the epidemic sustains our daily lives.
At the time, Empire State’s COVID-19 death toll was 114, with cases rising from the previous 15,000 – and we were all washing our groceries in Lysol, walking around mask-free.
Much has happened since then, which is difficult to remember even in some of New York’s more real moments. Here is a refresher on some milestones from a very strange year:
Westchester Contribute Area
Offering a glimpse of the impending statewide shutdown, the National Guard was deployed to implement a one-mile-radius coronavirus “containment zone” in New Rochelle in early March, then overwhelmed by the virus.
The lockdown was to last a full two weeks.
Prisoner making hand sanitizer
Before he orders a statewide shutdown, Cuomo unveils a new hand sanitizer produced by New York prison inmates.
This came after reports of Price-Going, such as a garment district hardware store, selling 1200ml bottles of Purell for $ 79.
Cuomo said the state had a “floral bouquet” in its budget product.
you can do it No kiss the bride
When Mayor de Blasio announced he was closing the marriage bureau on March 20, the two couples tied up in brief ceremonies outside the closed 80 Center Street building.
One of the couples wore latex gloves as they married a crime court judge, who jokingly suggested that they were not kissing to seal the deal – but rather to reduce physical contact with the elbow bump.
Nurses in garbage bags
The virus quickly overwhelmed hospitals and health care workers, who at one point were forced to use refrigerated trucks to store the carcasses.
Medical staff were also left without sufficient proper protective gear, and the Post revealed how the depletion at a Manhattan hospital was so terrible, the desperate nurses resorted to wearing garbage bags.
A hospital in central park
As hospitals filled with patients, officials looked for other options – such as opening an army hospital at the Javits Center and the USNS Comfort Ship, which was sent by the federal government – though both were of little use.
Meanwhile, the Purse of the evangelical Christian relief organization Samri established a large area hospital in Central Park to relieve an overflow of patients from Mount Sinai’s facilities. It closed in May.
Mayor Bill de Blasio forfeits basketball hoops
With the Big Apple in lockdown, officials tried to counter the crowds in the city’s parks – by taking down basketball hoops.
De Blasio said the ring had been nixed in 80 courts, where “repeated attempts” to stop pick-up games had failed.
It wasn’t just the bizarre scene in the lush green spaces of the city – Brooklyn’s Domino’s Park raised eyebrows when the white circle was painted on the grass to keep people apart from “human parking spots”.
Then, on Memorial Day Weekend, city officials banned swimming on the beaches – although surfing was still fine for some reason.
Bronx Zoo tigers get COVID-19
Coronovirus infected New Yorkers of all stripes.
In April, the closed Bronx Zoo suffered a virus outbreak when Nadia, a 4-year-old Malayan tiger, tested positive after developing a dry cough. Authorities believe she was infected with a zookeeper.
Later that month, two pet cats in Empire State also tested positive for the bug – reportedly the first diagnosis of domestic animals on American soil.
Clap for health workers
It is unclear how it began, and it was unclear why it ended, but for several months in lockdown, New York honored frontline coronavirus workers by cheering outside their windows at 7 a.m. in the evening.
Many heartwarming stories emerge from the celebration — like a Brooklyn nurse proposing to her girlfriend with a thunderous applause at night — and watching Bellevue medical staff wail tears.
Curbside haircuts
With the hair salon closed, at least one Brooklyn barber turned the street into a salon.
Joel Muñoz’s rogue curbside salon went viral in May, forcing him to relocate his al-Fresco hair-sniping operation to a different location.
Cuomo’s bizarre briefing props
During a coronovirus briefing in summer, Cuomo unveiled a bizarre Styrofoam mountain to represent the rise and fall of contagion in the state.
He used the glorified school project at some briefings beginning in late June, presenting it as a metaphor for New York’s work against the epidemic.
The governor put the proposal up for an even-odd poster – a pop for $ 14.50 – in places like “Sea of Division” and “Boyfriend Cliff”.
Over-the-Top Outdoor Dining
As the mercury rolled in, but indoor dining remained closed, New York restaurant owners pushed the definition of “exterior”, with an array of lush street and often highly illegal sidewalk structures.
The summer makeshift shed gave way to private dining igloos and enclosures resembling bubbles, greenhouses, domes and even luxury passenger train cars.
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