NYC Update — Corona Day 1

I’ve decided to document this first-in-a-century event as the Corona pandemic arrives in New York.

I’m calling today Day 1, because it’s Sunday and also the ides of March.

Here are my observations:

— The line to enter Costco at 116th Street Saturday at 10 am stretched the entire block from the FDR Drive to Pleasant Avenue and was wrapping back to 117th. Shopping trip abandoned.

— Taxi drivers are wearing masks. I would say it’s about one in ten.

— Mask wearing on the streets is a common sight. About 1 in 20.

— There is NOT enough social distancing, especially with young people. In Central Park, I saw groups of 6 and 8 twenty- and thirty-somethings picnicking on the grass. They were about 2 feet apart.

— There is NOT enough wiping/hand washing. I’m seeing people touch door handles, elevator buttons, then their phones, then their face. All. The. Time.

— A city-wide lock-down and imposition of travel restrictions seems like just a matter of time. How many days will it be before we are the “Milan” of the US?

— Our building has a procedure in case there’s a citywide lock-down, transit restrictions, and people can’t get to work. Two of the staff plan to sleep here, as well as the super.