A Look at the Eerily Empty World of New York City During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has led to unprecedented shutdowns, bringing normal life to a complete halt in many places around the world, making for eerie scenes as normally bustling neighborhoods stand empty and quiet. This fascinating video tours the streets of New York City to show how starkly different the world is during the COVID-19 shutdown.

The New Yorker filmed the footage recently, touring major sites and neighborhoods throughout the city. New York City has been incredibly hard hit by the pandemic, with 5,150 deaths as of April 9. To put that into perspective, according to Johns Hopkins, only four entire countries have more deaths than the city itself. As such, the entire city is in a deep shutdown to help contain the spread. Having spent some time in New York, watching this video is unnerving to me, as the first impression the city has always made on me is how constant and pervasive the sheer energy and life are throughout its borders. To see it so devoid of one of the very things that define it is something I never thought I would see in real life. We are surely watching history unfold before our eyes. Check out the video above, and stay safe and healthy! 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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