I live in Hudson Yards. I left the city a week ago, after the majority of the people in my luxury high rise did, and rented a house on Long Island. Stuff is more normal out here. But it's starting to get depressing. The city was really eerie when I left. I last went to work two weeks ago, and the last day on the subway there was no one in the Times Square subway staton on the morning commute, Times Square in general was empty... The next day was when people went crazy and the grocery stores sold out of food and people started leaving in droves and it got really quiet. I mostly left because I live very high up and didn't want to be stuck in my apartment indefinitely + I'm concerned about looting if it gets to a point where the doormen don't come to work. From my friends who stayed in the city, I've heard it's insanely quiet, that the grocery stores are price gouging and that theres been an uptick in muggings in what's typically a very quiet section of the city. They're also turning the Javitz Center into a hospital, so I'm doubly happy I left due to it's proximity to where I live, and the fact that over by Bellvue (which is in a fairly nice section of the city) they're making morgues in the street, i'm sure they'll do the same w/ Javitz. This $1200 stimulus package is a fucking joke, that pays about 1/4th of my monthly rent, not to mention I've spent far more than that on just buying food or the fact that the weekend prior to all of this I spent $130 on my month unlimited subway card for work. $1200 isn't covering anyones rent or expenses in New York City, even people who live with roommates in places like Harlem or meh parts of Brooklyn pay around $1000 per month to rent a room. Most people, unless they work walking distance from where they live, have to get the asfore-mentioned $130per month metro cards, food's expensive (to eat 1 meal per day cooking yourself, in nyc will still run you $80 or more per week in groceries)... IDK how anyone is going to bounce back from this financially. I'm so angry that they haven't frozen rent. I have storage units for my side business that I can't access to make shipments but still have to pay $300 per month in rent on come april 1st + my $4000+ rent on my apartment, etc with no ability to work or obtain an income.
Most people in NYC especially younger people live pay check to pay check... And even friends of mine who had money saved up, lost it all in the market crash.