Items

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  2020-04-02

  The City That Never Sleeps Until it Did

  One night in April, around 8 P.M, a few friends and I decided to go on a bike ride. We rented Citi Bikes and biked all the way from the East Village up to 5th Avenue, one of the most popular and famous streets in Manhattan. On a typical day, 5th Avenue would be overrun with people shopping, going to restaurants, leaving their office, or exploring the tourist sites in the area. The streets themselves would jammed with traffic as commuters and tourists alike try to get to other parts of the city via car, taxi, or bus. However, once New York City shutdown in March, the bustling city that we knew disappeared. Streets were empty all day, empty enough that I felt comfortable biking on one of the busiest roads of the city. I had never seen a New York like this, and am unlikely to see it like this again in my lifetime. What was once the epicenter of art, food, technology, culture, and tourism was now a desolate ghost town.
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  2020-05-31

  Empty Lots

  Under quarantine I took up biking to keep me active and mentally sane. This allowed me to cruise around the city I live in and sort of go sight seeing in downtown areas and even the area surrounding Disneyland. Occasionally I’d stop by The Outlets at Orange or aka the block and bike around the completely empty parking lots. I wasn’t the only person there as sometimes I’d see people skating, walking, running, or even roller skating. I think the most interesting things I saw people do to try to stay sane under quarantine was the visits to Krispy Kreme, the line for the drive thru were insanely long and wrapped around the curb like a snake. It felt strange seeing the block so lonely but it has recently reopened and is full of cars yet again.