hat is it about anniversaries? Is it that the Earth is in the identical place because it was relative to the solar, in order that we’re kind of occupying the identical spot within the cosmos as we had been? And the size of the day being the identical, the sunshine dimming on the similar time? You had been right here, however in a different way. One thing modified whenever you had been on this place earlier than: you had been born; you bought married; planes hit the Twin Towers; you stopped smoking. The sameness marks the distinction between then and now.
A yr in the past, New York was warming into February after a winter gentle on snow. The information of the virus hitting China appeared not significantly related to many people; I nonetheless have a photograph on my cellphone of a person ready on the thirty fourth avenue Downtown C platform that I took in derision of his protecting gear: goggles and what appeared like a respirator you’d use should you had been sanding sheetrock.
Three weeks later, I used to be far much less smug. On 29 February, the primary US dying by Covid was introduced; on 3 March, the primary case was reported in New York; on 7 March, Cuomo declared a state of emergency; on 8 March, New York Metropolis issued tips to keep away from densely packed buses, subways or trains. On 12 March, Broadway shut down, and, on 13 March, DeBlasio declared a state of emergency for town.
Discussion about this post