Scenes of an empty New York: ‘For rent’ signs, deserted
streets and homeless havens amid the pandemic
BY TODD MAISEL
Like many other Manhattan neighborhoods
in the time of coronavirus,
The Village has become a virtual
ghost town.
Nearly every store other than supermarkets
and groceries have been closed due to
the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed
thousands in New York City. The price so
far for the city has been steep, as some stores
already are for rent only weeks into the crisis.
Some of those stores that have scaffolding
during façade repairs have become
makeshift shelters for the homeless.
At Union Square, Sephora had plywood
over doors and windows painted black. A
sign on every window said, “As a precautionary
measure against COVID-19, and
for the health and safety of our employees
and clients, we are temporarily closed.”
One woman walking by peered at the
sign and said, “I do miss going in there,
love their cosmetics, but I guess it’s just a
sign of the times.”
A store right next to it was also closed,
but had a big “for rent” sign on the windows.
The same signs are popping up all
over town on empty storefronts – some
of which were already empty before the
pandemic, due to sky-high rents.
At East 11th Street and Broadway, there
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The coronavirus pandemic has forced
Mayor Bill de Blasio to cancel all
non-essential street events in June
— including the Pride March, Puerto Rican
Day Parade and Salute to Israel Parade.
De Blasio made the announcement Monday
morning during his daily coronavirus
press briefi ng at City Hall. The cancelations
are a precaution to prevent a second massive
outbreak of coronavirus at a time
when the city’s fi nally beginning to turn
the corner on the pandemic.
“It’s not a happy announcement, but it’s
one we have to make,” de Blasio said.
The cancellation order includes all other
parades, concerts, rallies and other large
gatherings scheduled for June.
The mayor, however, indicated the city is
cooperating with the Pride March, Puerto
Rican Day Parade and Salute to Israel
Parade organizers on possibly holding the
events at a later date. All three events draw
tens of thousands of spectators annually.
The Pride March is celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year.
Heritage of Pride, which organizes the
main Pride march and related events,
immediately rolled out an announcement
confi rming that organizers worked closely
Sephora boarded up early on Union Square and their other locations.
was nary an open storefront, save for a local
7-Eleven selling food and groceries.
One storefront, Ricky’s Cosmetics on
Broadway had been a staple in the community
for years. A sign on it read, “store
closed permanently.” It’s next to the famed
Strand Book Store, also a staple since 1927.
Across the street, an entire storefront was
vacant. Sitting in front of the row of empty
stores were three homeless people, living
in ramshackle cardboard and plastic, with
blankets underneath them. The scaffolding
above helps to keep the weather out.
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
Mayor cancels permits for NYC Pride Parade,
Puerto Rican Day Parade and other June events
The 2020 Pride March scheduled for June has been postponed after Mayor
Bill de Blasio cancelled all non-essential events in June due to the coronavirus
pandemic
with the de Blasio administration in the
decision to scrap the in-person plans for
Pride.
Instead, HOP hinted at alternative
initiatives and plans that will celebrate
Pride in a different way. HOP plans to
beef up its Pride Gives Back grant program
intended to support programming
They claim homeless outreach have been
coming by “less and less,” with many more
concerned for their own safety than for the
homeless.
Nick and Sabrina sat with their dog
Zeus, a mangy brown mutt, who growled
every time a camera was pointed in his
direction. Nick is currently an unemployed
demolition worker – off the books, he said.
They have been homeless for 10 months,
and two months camped out in front of
these storefronts.
“We had an apartment, and couldn’t
AMNEWYORK/FILE PHOTO
at queer organizations in marginalized
communities, while ABC7 is planning a
“special NYC Pride programming event”
in conjunction with HOP in June. In past
year, the television station has broadcast
several hours of the parae.
“As the days have passed, it has become
more and more clear that even with a
afford to renew our lease so now, we live
here in front of these stores,” Nick said
as his wife ate Chinese noodles from a
styrofoam dish.
“We were supposed to get into a private
shelter, but then, with the virus everything
came to a halt – everything stopped,” Nick
added. “We are basically waiting for them
to stop by and tell us everything is ready.
I’ve seen a ton of people out here. There’s
nowhere to go right now and no work.”
Nick and their homeless neighbor, John
Powers, say Goddard of Riverside usually
drive around and offer assistance, “but not
so much anymore.” Nick said the homeless
outreach police used to check on them,
“but they stopped coming by.”
“We’re forgotten here – I think they are
overwhelmed,” he observed.
Luckily, all three and Zeus the dog have
been healthy living in front of the stores.
Powers, however, said he’d rather live there
than in a shelter.
“These people are not really interested in
helping me,” said Powers, shaking his head
that he and his bunk mates have so far been
healthy. “I’ve been in shelters and nobody
really wants to help because they just look
down on us, we’re just bums. When we go
to a hospital for treatment, they don’t want
us there because they are already wary of
each other.”
decline in the spread of COVID-19, largescale
events such as ours are unlikely to
happen in the near future,” NYC Pride
co-chair Maryanne Roberto Fine noted in
a statement. “We understand that we need
to reimagine NYC Pride events — and have
already begun to do just that.”
De Blasio isn’t sure when the restrictions
on public events will ease, but during his
daily coronavirus briefi ng on Tuesday, de
Blasio could not give a date when social
distancing rules would be lifted in the city.
However, when that day fi nally comes,
he’ll permit a parade saluting the city’s
healthcare workers — promising that the
celebration would be worth the wait.
“This will be the greatest of all the
parades because this one will speak to
the rebirth of New York City,” said de
Blasio. “This one will speak to the kind of
heroism that is intrinsic to who we are as
New Yorkers… This parade will mark the
beginning of our renaissance. But it will
also be, most importantly, a chance to say
thank you.”
With additional reporting by Alejandra
O’Connell-Domenech and Matt Tracy.
Schneps Media April 23, 2020 3