On March 19, 2020 I walked downtown (as opposed to taking the subway in these coronavirus times) from midtown to Union Square. It was about a two mile walk, maybe a little more, in each direction back and forth. I had an appointment at 2:20 p.m. to finish my application for the New York City ID card, which I want. Unfortunately for me, the city had decided to close all the application offices that very morning due to virus concerns, issuing this closure apparently just after I had called 311 earlier to confirm they were indeed still going to be open. So when I got down there, the ID office was shuttered and I couldn’t finish the application.
It was a dreary, gray day, but as I walked I took pictures of the empty city. I took more than these but these were the best. You can click on them to make them larger. Because it was so deserted, I made it downtown and uptown very quickly, even with tarrying to take photos now and then.
Times Square…the military recruitment center and the Strand Bookstore stall…
When I got down to 12th and Broadway, near Union Square, I saw the main store of the Strand, minus its daily assortment of outdoor stalls…
I believe the people on the left of the photo were waiting in line to get into a store that was selling items like hand sanitizer.
When I walked back up, along Eighth Avenue, I passed the huge main post office at 31st Street. There were almost no people…just pigeons.
And I noticed that today, 3/30/20, despite it being a Monday, there was no mail delivery, at least in the building where I live.
When I went out briefly tonight–I still try to get some daily exercise, a one mile walk–it was so deserted and quiet when I was hurrying through Columbus Circle that I heard could hear the Altoid mints rattling around in the little Peter Driben pinup box I carry in my pocket.
Irv O. Neil's EROTICA IS MY TRADE 