It’s hard to believe that my wife and I have been married for 15 years. Well, more than 15 years now. Our anniversary was on the 23rd of last month. It seems like after that much time you might get tired of someone, but I still find her fascinating and I love being with her and helping her succeed. She’s an amazing person and I’m lucky to have her in my life.
Old Homestead martini with ginYellowfin tuna saishimiOysters RockefellerGotham Rib SteakFilet mignon with applewood smoked bacon over potatoesLobster macaroni and cheeseCreme brulee with a cup of coffee
We celebrated by going out to dinner at Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City and by going up One World Trade Center to the One World Observatory. We’d been to Old Homestead before, on a previous anniversary years ago, and it was still an amazing meal and an amazing experience. It’s pricey, but worth it, and I highly recommend trying the place out if you’re in the city as a tourist or for a holiday.
According to my mom, I went to the top of one of the old Twin Towers (the old World Trade Center), but I don’t remember it, so the view was really impressive. Everything looked so far away and inconsequential from up there. And it was quiet. It was like being in another place and the city was just a bunch of toys down below us. It was weird going back down the elevator (which took us from the basement to the 104th floor in 47 seconds) into the bustle of the city. It was unfortunately a bit cloudy and rainy when we were there, but that just means we have an excuse to go back again.
It has been an amazing 15 years and I’m looking forward to all the anniversaries to come. I love you, babe!
In 2019, I was in pretty good shape but I kind of let that all go because of the pandemic. I’d like to get back to where I was, but my issue now is time. I have a long commute, so I have to figure out where to squeeze in the workouts. I’ll find a way to make it work.
A boat called the Frying Pan docked one pier up. I have a feeling it’s a restaurant but didn’t want to investigate.
The interior of the restaurant was comfortable and there was a small outdoor dining section next to the brownstone’s stairs.
Hummus, baba ganoush, and shakshuka with pita bread
This was in 2013 at the 9th Street location near Tompkins Square park in Lower Manhattan that no longer exists, which is a shame. It was a great place to get tasty, reasonably priced Middle Eastern food with fast access to a park to relax afterwards. I liked the vibes in that area as well. There are other locations, but the neighborhoods seem busier and less friendly.
The 9th street location closed quite a few years ago now and we also haven’t visited the neighborhood to eat out regularly in years. It seems like most of the places we enjoyed going to down there have closed or the quality has gone down and we’ve lost interest. I guess everything changes.
I don’t know if it’s the same guy, but the last time I passed through Union Square there was still a fruit vendor in the same location. This is right outside the Joe’s Pizza location, next to Trader Joe’s.
Two men playing jazz in Tompkins Square Park on June 7th, 2019.
This park is located in Manhattan, in what’s now known as the East Village. When I was a kid, the park was filled with drug dealers, addicts, and needles. Now it’s a great place to go with music, dog runs, and green grass in the summer for sun bathing.
Early to mid 2019 was really nice. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been sick since that summer, and I’m just now starting to feel better. I want to start cycling again and spending more time outdoors.
I hope 2023 brings more opportunity and happiness than what we’ve grown accustomed to lately.
People enjoying the day at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, New York City
It’s been quite a while since I’ve gone out riding on my bicycle. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we basically resolved to stay home as much as possible, like most people did, I imagine. After a few months, we managed to get an indoor stationary bicycle, but it just isn’t the same experience as going out and riding around other people.
Yesterday, I literally knocked the dust off of my bicycle, pulled the bike rack out of the trunk of our SUV, and went down to Central Park. My wife went with me, but she’s more of a jogger than a cyclist, and she wanted to go for a run. She’s got a few marathons under her belt, which is pretty cool, so she ran and I rode, and we met up later to get take out for dinner.
Riding around the park, I saw that there were people everywhere. It’s still not as crowded as it used to be, mostly I think because there aren’t as many tourists around. But, there were a lot of joggers, casual and serious cyclists, walkers, sunbathers, and sight seers.
People boating in The Central Park Lake
When I was done with my ride, I spent some time by Bethesda Fountain. There was a woman giving an opera performance in the covered area below the roadway. By the fountain there was a public dance class. There were artists painting pictures of the scenery and some painting pictures of people for money.
It was really nice to see the city coming back to life again. Central Park was really depressing during the pandemic the few times we went because it was so empty. It felt dead. I didn’t even mind the smell of the horses as I rode around the southern loop of West Dr. and Center Dr.
Since this COVID-19 thing started in New York City, people have been panic buying. One dude buying 20 jars of spaghetti sauce, every shelf in the store is now empty, kind of panic buying. Or at least, that’s how it was down in Manhattan near my mom’s place.
At the two grocery stores near our apartment in the Bronx, everything has been pretty regular in terms of availability. For a few days, the grocery stores were out of ginger. The liquid hand soap was gone from one of two grocery stores for a week. The TP was gone for a few days, but then was restocked. Now, one grocery store has TP and the other doesn’t.
It doesn’t seem like a hoarding issue so much as a supply issue at this point. In the last month, people bought three or more months worth the toilet paper instead of what they would normally buy, so there’s just a shortage coming out of the factories. A self-fulfilling TP shortage.
The food shelves were never totally emptied here. I can tell sales are good though, because I haven’t seen a damn thing on sale at Key Foods for two weeks. I’d like to go to Walmart in NJ, but with the way people are talking, I’m not sure there’d be anything there to buy. Or maybe there’s a line? Or maybe it’s going to be full of people passing the virus around to each other?
I get why people hoard now, though. When they first started, I didn’t understand it. It looked like people were just being stupid, but I’ve been thinking about it and I realized that some people must literally have bought enough so they could go in their house and not come out for weeks or months, because they have the money for it and a job that allows them to work from home. And, given that almost 300 people are dying a day in New York City right now, maybe that was the right move after all. The more you limit your exposure, the more likely you are to not die in the next few months.
Not dying due to exposure to the pandemic has become a class privilege. Just like Cuomo freezing mortgages but not rents. Apparently, renters are supposed to magically pull rent out of their butts even if they haven’t been working, but home owners have to be protected. Even though they’re in the minority.
It doesn’t seem like people in this part of the Bronx are as prone to hoarding as people in other neighborhoods. We’ve discussed whether it’s because of culture, not recognizing the seriousness of the pandemic, or because people in this area just can’t afford to buy multiple weeks or months of groceries all at once in advance. Maybe it’s a bit of all three.
Only the off-brand stuff is left.
Anyway, the shelves are finally starting to look a little bare in the TP section now. Paper towels too. We still bought the same was what we’d normally buy. We have actual towels that we can use instead of paper towels and if we run out of TP, we can wash our butts in the shower.
You look at what Governor Cuomo is saying, and especially Mayor De Blasio, and you’d think that death is literally stalking the streets, as if it would be like this if you went outside:
But instead, it’s almost like nothing is going on at all. I think people are mostly not traveling out of their neighborhoods if they can, especially on the trains, but people are out on the streets in force, especially now that it’s the weekend.
Heading downtown yesterday to 86th Street, the train actually felt crowded for 1:30 PM. On the way home, the platform was mostly empty, but the uptown 4 was standing room only when it arrived. It definitely wasn’t as crowded as it normally is at 2:50 PM, but it was still shoulder-to-shoulder.
The uptown 4 train platform at 86th street on Friday afternoon 3/20/2020, almost completely empty of people
I think this says a lot about neighborhoods and socio-economics in New York City. People from the Bronx have to take the trains because most people from the Bronx don’t have jobs that they can do from home. You don’t see a lot of people getting on the train at 86th Street because most of the people that live in that area are able to stay home and/or work from home.
Proving the point, the train heading out of the Bronx this afternoon (Saturday) was almost empty.
An empty 4 train on Saturday afternoon, 3/21/2020. Photo credit: Marie Farless
86th Street and Central Park are are both packed, though. My wife couldn’t believe how many people are out. She said it looks like a regular weekend, as if nothing is going on.
A large crowd of people jogging and walking in Central Park today, 3/21/2020. Photo credit: Marie FarlessPeople in Central Park today, Saturday 3/21/2020. Photo credit: Marie Farless
You’d think most people would be at home or at least keeping their distance from each other, but they’re all bunched up in crowds.
I look at these people and think to myself, they’re out there huffing and puffing and blasting viruses into the air and then the next person is going to run through that. I read that coronavirus can hang around in the air for 3 hours, so if you’re running behind someone carrying the virus, you’re probably screwed, especially if there’s no breeze, but you won’t know it for about two weeks and in the meantime you’ll be infecting everyone you know and come in contact with.
Anyway, based on what Cuomo was saying today, everything except essential services will be shut down as of 8 PM Sunday night. I wonder if that means restaurants too? No more take-out? No more delivery? No more runs to the liquor store?
A liqour shop on Ave B and 14th Street in Manhattan, NYC with plastic sheeting and a table at the front door, creating a makeshift take-out window.
I wonder if that will push more people into panic buying at grocery stores today and tomorrow? And if more people will be congregating in parks afterwards?
A little history of Central Park…
Anyway, this situation with Central Park reminds me of when and why the park was originally built. In 1850, wealthy merchants and landowners argued that they needed somewhere to go for scenic carriage rides in the city. Another argument they presented to justify the expense of creating the park was that it would give working class people a healthy alternative to going to the saloons and hanging around in the streets.
Before Central Park was built, people just had nowhere to go besides their ratty tenements, the streets, or the bars. Battery Park didn’t exist at the time. Neither did the paths along the rivers. Those were all shipping docks and commercial areas, or simply didn’t exist because the land reclamation hadn’t been done yet.
Central Park probably didn’t work out that well for working class people back in the day because working class people wouldn’t have been able to afford the transit cost to get to there. Travel was harder and more expensive compared to wages at the time.
Everything is getting shut down
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, people have nowhere to go because the “saloons” and other restaurants are closed so they’re finally gathering in Central Park and probably other parks across the city. After Sunday, even more businesses are going to be closed so that’s even more people with time on their hands and maybe heading to the park. I imagine it won’t be too much longer before Central Park is closed too.
We started out with gatherings limited to 500, then 50, then 10, and now you can’t even have a 5 person game of basketball according to Cuomo. De Blasio is calling for the military to be brought in. It looks like they’re pushing for martial law and De Blasio has been fighting to restrict people to their homes since last week.
I get that COVID-19 is serious, but it seems like the response they’re demanding is exaggerated. With about 45,000 tests done, New York City has found about 6,200 people that already have the virus. That doesn’t really tell us much about how rapidly the virus is spreading in the city because the testing is still trying to catch up to the actual number of people that are already infected. But let’s say there are 10,000 cases in New York City. That’s about 0.12% of the city’s population of ~8.4 million.
I suppose they’re trying to prevent New York from winding up like Italy, but if the bar is so low, I wonder what’s going to count in terms of successfully overcoming the current situation. What I mean is, how few people have to have the virus before we can all get back to our regular lives?
And, more importantly, how are the state and federal governments going to overcome the economic hurdle they’re creating?
De Blasio, Cuomo, and the Federal Government need to figure out what they’re going to do when this situation drags on for weeks and months. People really aren’t going to be able to pay their bills. Putting a moratorium on evictions/utility cutoffs/etc. doesn’t even help, because once the moratorium is up, the evictions and cutoffs will start. You can’t expect people to suddenly have money after 3 months of not working just because the virus is gone and you declare the moratorium to be over. This situation is going to turn into a disaster. And maybe even sooner than 3 months if people run out of money to buy food.
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