Our Current Twilight Zone
Apr. 4th, 2020 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherI have been using DW as a distraction from everything, but I did intentionally select "The Twilight Zone" as a show reflecting reality, so I should give updates about my process.
I am in the COVID-19 capital of the world (currently). In case you didn't know, that's NYC as of this writing. And it should be capitalized because COVID is an abbreviation for COrona VIrus Disease-2019.
There are several obvious reasons why New York is the COVID-19 epicenter. First we are an international hub for traffic through the three area airports, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark (New Jersey is in second place to New York). And a lot of people from Europe and Asia come into the United States through here.
Next, it's the population count. There's just under nineteen million NYC residents - we'll have to double check that with this year's Census.
Then it's the living conditions. The bulk of us live in apartments so we share our living spaces with people we might not know, or possibly never even see, depending on the size and configuration of your building.
And finally it's how we get around. Even if you own a car in this town, you will find that the subway system and yes, even the MTA buses, will get you to your destination cheaper and sometimes with fewer headaches than driving. Point being, we ALL use mass transit. But we pack subway trains at rush hour, then go to our collective offices.
Those four elements combined to make a Perfect Storm for this virus in this city.
It's not New York's "fault" we have this many cases, currently over 113,000 reported, but it is a function of how this city works. I would venture to guess that Los Angeles won't have it nearly as bad because many more people there have private residences and drive their own personal vehicles, one time that owning a car and living in a place that only your family and you typically enter is an advantage.
Both my state governor, Andrew Cuomo (whose brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, tested positive for the virus and is now in quarantine) and my mayor, Bill de Blasio, were pushing for people to stay at home, sooner than the federal government suggested. In fact, I don't think the federal government has officially said to stay in yet.
Personally, I'm physically fine. I have been staying in for a while. I'm not even sure how long. Over two weeks for sure. I lost track. And because so many ignored the "suggestion" of staying home the last week or two, the case numbers are continuing to climb. So, I might be in for a while longer.
It's eerie to see the streets and sidewalks so empty, like that scene in "Vanilla Sky" where Tom Cruise drives into Times Square, gets out of his car and starts running through the empty landmark.
Yeah, it was only a dream. I wish.
The city hasn't shut entirely. It can't. People need to eat, need to get from home to work, if they are essential. And all the news reports.
The first victim I personally knew died this week. When I was DJing at that chintzy night club on West 4th, The Blackhearts, Joan Jett's backup band, would occasionally drop in after hours to drink and hang with us. And the most personable, jocular and freewheeling of the bunch was Alan Merrill. He wrote "I Love Rock n' Roll." He died on March 29th.
I'll reserve Saturdays for updates on how things are going. Please share your updates if you can. Thanks.
I am in the COVID-19 capital of the world (currently). In case you didn't know, that's NYC as of this writing. And it should be capitalized because COVID is an abbreviation for COrona VIrus Disease-2019.
There are several obvious reasons why New York is the COVID-19 epicenter. First we are an international hub for traffic through the three area airports, JFK, LaGuardia and Newark (New Jersey is in second place to New York). And a lot of people from Europe and Asia come into the United States through here.
Next, it's the population count. There's just under nineteen million NYC residents - we'll have to double check that with this year's Census.
Then it's the living conditions. The bulk of us live in apartments so we share our living spaces with people we might not know, or possibly never even see, depending on the size and configuration of your building.
And finally it's how we get around. Even if you own a car in this town, you will find that the subway system and yes, even the MTA buses, will get you to your destination cheaper and sometimes with fewer headaches than driving. Point being, we ALL use mass transit. But we pack subway trains at rush hour, then go to our collective offices.
Those four elements combined to make a Perfect Storm for this virus in this city.
It's not New York's "fault" we have this many cases, currently over 113,000 reported, but it is a function of how this city works. I would venture to guess that Los Angeles won't have it nearly as bad because many more people there have private residences and drive their own personal vehicles, one time that owning a car and living in a place that only your family and you typically enter is an advantage.
Both my state governor, Andrew Cuomo (whose brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, tested positive for the virus and is now in quarantine) and my mayor, Bill de Blasio, were pushing for people to stay at home, sooner than the federal government suggested. In fact, I don't think the federal government has officially said to stay in yet.
Personally, I'm physically fine. I have been staying in for a while. I'm not even sure how long. Over two weeks for sure. I lost track. And because so many ignored the "suggestion" of staying home the last week or two, the case numbers are continuing to climb. So, I might be in for a while longer.
It's eerie to see the streets and sidewalks so empty, like that scene in "Vanilla Sky" where Tom Cruise drives into Times Square, gets out of his car and starts running through the empty landmark.
Yeah, it was only a dream. I wish.
The city hasn't shut entirely. It can't. People need to eat, need to get from home to work, if they are essential. And all the news reports.
The first victim I personally knew died this week. When I was DJing at that chintzy night club on West 4th, The Blackhearts, Joan Jett's backup band, would occasionally drop in after hours to drink and hang with us. And the most personable, jocular and freewheeling of the bunch was Alan Merrill. He wrote "I Love Rock n' Roll." He died on March 29th.
I'll reserve Saturdays for updates on how things are going. Please share your updates if you can. Thanks.