NYC Pandemic Experience

I recently took a trip to NYC. The city is a frequent travel destination for me, and is dear to my heart for many reasons! I love the hustle and bustle, I love to shop, I love to eat, I have family there, and if you didn't know... that's where I was born. So whenever I go down to the city it's like being at a second home. However, this time it was different. It was the first time that I had gone since the pandemic hit. New York State got hit pretty hard with COVID-19, and NYC particularly was one of the worst hit cities in the world. So during all that madness traveling to NYC was a big NO.

However, for those who live and have to survive in the city, it's different.  When you really look at NYC, the land is pretty small, but it's home to millions of people trying to navigate through life.  Let's take a second and all imagine how NYC was effected by COVID-19. How easily do you think germs are spread in a place where millions of people are squished together in close quarters, with limited social distancing opportunities? Think about a place where public transportation is LIFE, there's not enough disinfectant in the world to destroy those germs on the subway. Think about all the food options, how many restaurants do you think struggled and went out of business when the shutdown happened? New York City is one of the top travel destinations in the world, but who was traveling during a pandemic? When rates began to spike in New York, even those who were brave enough to still travel, they definitely weren't coming there. NYC is supposed to be the city that never sleeps, imagine watching business after business, shutdown and/or close permanently?  Favorite activities were lost, top schools were closed, jobs were lost, normalcy was lost, and the overall New York City vibe was lost.

The pandemic had a major effect on us all, but NYC was definitely hit extremely hard. In order for things to be safe and migrate towards a form of normalcy multiple adaptions had to be made. It's been a year now and things still are no where near the same but they are making strides to get normal.

Despite all the limitations it was still a great trip to NYC! The worst part for me, was everything shutting down at and/or before 11:00pm. I felt so jipped! But that just means you have to make the most of your time while your down there. This is a great time to take advantage of site seeing! They can't cover up a whole monument right? The best part for me was the lack of people. If you've ever been to NYC, you are just surrounded by a million people at all times. With the lack of tourism you can actually walk around and have a safe little bubble around you. You also don't have to wait in long lines. While I loved that, it also was kind of strange.  We went to Times Square and typically it's always a sea of people but it was just so bare when you looked across...

If you've always had a dream of visiting NYC I suggest you wait until things get a little bit more normal. However, if you are a frequent traveler you can definitely still take the trip, just be prepared to make some adaptations.

-FASHMIRA