Six More Months and NYC would be entering ‘I Am Legend Territory’
It’s not something that’ll jump right out at you, but find the right spot in Manhattan and thoughts of a land forgotten might spring to mind.
It’s been three months (and still going) of most New Yorkers, and non essential workers, staying home and not walking our city streets due to the COVID-19 Crisis. With that in mind, some spots are going without care. I’m not talking about areas that are absolutely necessary for visual aesthetics but then, that’s a matter of opinion.
Surely the garbage is still being picked up, and the abandoned street cleaning rules haven’t turned our town into a wasteland.
So what am I talking about?
Here’s are a couple photos (with more to follow below) taken off the steps immediately in front of the NY Public Library main location at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd and Fifth Avenue. Here in the city, they’d be nothing to make a big deal out of. It’s something you’ll come across on the occasional abandoned block within the shadier parts of town. Yet, this is in front of an historic landmark. Still, nothing so great to get in a twist about. Right?
Now, let’s have a look from an entirely different and more drastic perspective. It’s as if one’s eyeing a scene from ‘I Am Legend’? Actually, I find it more reminiscent of History Channel’s ‘Life after People’ series. A show depicting what life would be like on earth after humans have disappeared.
What a difference an angle makes. I wonder what the city would look like if we were stuck like this for an additional six months or a year? Although, it’s possible that the city would eventually step in to take care of this. I checked and the DOT (Department of Transportation) is responsible for things like this; with property owners being at risk for such areas adjoining their properties. Regardless, this is city owned, through and through.
On their official page, the DOT has the following notice: ‘Due to the state of emergency related to COVID-19, sidewalk violation issuances are suspended and sidewalk repairs (except for emergencies) are suspended.’
I imagine, many of the office and residential buildings within the borough have taken the initiative to look after the aesthetics of their properties’ exteriors nonetheless. Personally, the devil on my shoulder’s hoping to see what this would look like after several more months worth of time.