New York City on Pause!
For Most of March, Gotham has been overcast with a cloud of caution. The usual hustle, grit and buzz of New York City was replaced with an eerie dead air as residents began to practice social distancing. It’s only been a few days, but to New Yorkers who have their normal schedules packed with hard work and harder play, it has felt like a lifetime.
Everything has changed. Retail shops are shuttered and public spaces that once overflowed with people are deserted. Gridlock traffic, sweaty subways, bikers and pedestrians battling at rush hour, and Uber drivers yelling at yellow cabs have all been replaced by the barren thoroughfares and muffled noises in the distance. The small stuff that once irritated or angered us seems so trivial now. There's a calmness in the city that most of us have not experienced since September 2001. New Yorkers banded together as one then. And we are coming together as one now to help the city overcome this outbreak by staying home - leaving us a rare look at a listless "City That Never Sleeps".
We want to give our global Extra Butter community a glimpse of what our beloved City looks like this week. These photos are courtesy of our network of very talented street photographers. Let’s reconnect and remember what we love about this city and all it has survived through the years. Let's remember the routes we take to work and that corner with our favorite halal cart. The extravagant pre-war buildings around Central Park and the historic synagogues in the Lower East Side. The tourist traps that we avoid and the bodegas serving chopped cheese at 2am. Let's not take any of it for granted. Lets work together to flatten the curve. We are New York and we are all in this together. Stay safe, stay creative, stay smooth.
- Bernie
