Ben Yakas

By summer, I realized my main hobby was doomscrolling when I woke up and before I went to bed. My second hobby was obsessively tracking my steps on my phone, because it was a data-driven way to understand that my life was 2,000-5,000 steps less interesting per day.

But then I found the raccoons.

"All these guys have PTSD. How on earth do they forget about the funeral workers? These people should be acknowledged."

“We've all grown exhausted by all this stuff. I don't want to do anything to turn a single person away. All I want to do is sell wine and put on music. It's all I really care about and all this is a pain in the ass. But I'm just trying to keep my staff and patrons and the artists as safe as possible.”

In the first months of the pandemic, photographer Charlie Bennet travelled around Manhattan capturing the eerie emptiness of the city in a series of haunting photographs. He eventually teamed up with journalist Helena Gustavsson to provide words to accompany those photos.

I asked eight Democratic mayoral candidates what the value of having public space outside is, what they think the de Blasio administration did right and wrong with Open Streets, and how they would expand upon it in their administration.

The shows have taken the concept of socially-distanced music performances and given it an unforgettable, urban backdrop.

"The stores are sending the message that they expect chaos and rampaging in the future. It's incredibly depressing and disheartening to see."

In the first days of the pandemic, grocery store workers said they were stressed, overworked, and terrified they were going to pick up the virus from a customer.

Owner Alain Chevreux spoke to me about the popularity of outdoor dining bubbles, the state of the restaurant industry, and how Cafe Du Soleil was able to survive 2020.

[Also check out an interview with the general manager and co-owners of Arlene's Grocery about surviving the first year of the pandemic.]

Think of it as similar to the way some people do date night, or cosplay, or more kinky stuff. Normplay is when a person starts recreating their previously normal lives inside their homes using whatever they have on hand.

During a period when it was almost impossible to obtain at-home COVID-19 tests, some local businesses started offering on-site testing.

The owner of the Queens art space spoke to me about her frustrations with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the added challenge of undergoing cancer treatment during the first year of the pandemic.

[Also check out an interview with Noam Dworman about the state of comedy during the pandemic.]

I spoke to MCNY's Chief Curator Sarah Henry to take a closer look at the long and complex history of infectious disease and try to get some context for how NYC has dealt with epidemic outbreaks in the past.

Her work has taken on new resonance in the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic has hit the city, with her messages reflecting the shared anxieties of New Yorkers as well as offering a sense of hope during this difficult period.

A longform piece about the city's initial reluctance to open streets to the public in the first weeks of the pandemic. [Despite much fussing, the Open Streets program was soon enacted.]

A piece from the first days of the pandemic: "I feel like the genie is out of the bottle—it is in the community."

The initial failure to accept the full gravity of the pandemic was the most pivotal mistake, but it was also just the beginning.

"We all wanted to see a little more life in the streets, and at the same time also give opportunities to local artists, performers, actors and dancers who are out of work and have limited opportunity to work and earn money."

"When you're in a club, you're not really thinking about what's going on outside, which I think is the goal. We all want to pretend this isn't happening, but just because we're not looking at it doesn't mean it's not happening."

Check out more coverage of Kosciuszko Bridge raves, rooftop pool parties, marathon dance parties, illicit East Village bars, Bushwick party spots, and the resulting state-wide backlash.

I covered the ever-shifting landscape for restaurants and bars in NYC during the first two years of the pandemic, including the fight for year-round outdoor dining, the advent of alcohol-to-go, the industry bracing for winter shutdowns, financial struggles, various seasonal surges, the return of indoor dining, and more.

Fifteen months after the start of the pandemic, New Yorkers were still hesitant about diving back into their old lives and routines despite an eagerness to renew community bonds.