helluva town

So I'm having this argument with my neighbor. She says NYC is over. Without Broadway and ballet and restaurants, no more New York. Of course, she hasn't been outside in a couple months,
 so she hasn't seen the people sitting outside at restaurants bundled up in their coats, the cafes with their tents and heaters taking up a lane of Amsterdam Avenue, the people on the streets—yes, wearing masks—going briskly about their business. She says people are moving out. I say they are coming back. I told her a year from now the theaters will be back open and, if we're lucky, New York will once again be a place where artists can afford to live and the rich people will follow. Yes, retail is dead, but it was dying before. And midtown is somewhat deserted without the office folk. Those buildings may have to be repurposed. But you can't kill this town. People like to be together with other strivers. When I first moved to the UWS in the 1970s, you had to carry a $20 in your pocket in case you were mugged. Your cars were stolen or had their windows bashed in. There were needles on the sidewalks and bars on the doors.

 When I was out of town, the newspapers made it sound as if it was like that again. It's not.