Permanent Industry Changes in the Post-COVID World

[Harvey]

Time to buy some narcostocks!

If you have a 401k, you probably already own them.

 

[rebel1916]

yea, its the shadiest line in my opinion. my luck has been fine, but my gf was privy to a stabbing, and someone pulling a gun to threaten someone else with, in separate incidents, both pre-covid. now she says the train is just sort of desolate and there's a good chance you get on a car alone with an unstable character. not good. and we ride the train from high street brooklyn bridge one stop to fulton street. one bougie area to one major transit hub. the ends of the A train line are probably straight up scary.

I rode the A train in late 2019 for the first time post Bloomberg. There was shit, vomit and racist ranting. It felt just like 1993. I rode it a few months ago again at 8pm or so. It felt really sketchy and desolate. I was uncomfortable and I had a gun.

 

[mbedle]

Oregon is considering making mask wearing permanent.

And one of the pharmacartel CEO's has come out and said that COVID vaccination will be a yearly or semiannual ritual.

Time to buy some narcostocks!

You are wrong about the Oregon thing.

 

[Pez]

NYC sounds terrible.

 

[kingslug]

It is.......................but they pay you a lot to deal with it.

 

[Smellytele]

It is.......................but they pay you a lot to deal with it.

and ....... charge you a lot for the experience

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm sure my mind would have been blown visiting NYC last summer when everything was shut down. I used to visit NYC a lot in the 90s for Grateful Dead and Phish shows. I basically stopped going after 9/11 as I lost my college roommate in the World Trade Center attack. I went once to the site of the rubble in summer 2002 and just really didn't want to go back. Went once in 2009 for a work event, but that was it.

Fast forward to last Valentine's Day weekend and I took my wife to the city for a Ween show. We had a blast and just loved walking around through the streets, Central Park, ate at a bunch of good restaurants. It renewed my appreciation for the place. It's just such a more international city than anywhere else in the country. You just marvel at all the different kinds of people and the amount of energy.

One month later the whole world stopped.

I can't really imagine what it was like totally quiet. I spent a ton of time in Boston last summer, which was also eerily quiet, but the drop off I'm sure paled in comparison to Manhattan.

I wouldn't want to live in NYC. Way too crowded for day to day life. Even Boston is for my tastes. But, I do hope it comes back exactly as it was. Very special city. If and when it does, I'll be a much more regular visitor again after our fun there in February 2020.

 

[kingslug]

Totally..its taken its toll in the 25 years...hope I can last another 5 and get out.
The 6 years I spent starting up and running the new World Trade Center aged me...oh..about 100 years.

 

[abc]

It is.......................but they pay you a lot to deal with it.

and ....... charge you a lot for the experience

The two are related. Because people can pay: "the fair price is whatever the market could bear".

It's now cheaper. But many may not want to "deal with it". My physical therapist I met from the hospital rehab center just started her own PT business, her office right next to Grand Central. The rent for the office is so much cheaper now, she said it's the best time to start.

Amidst the talks of doom and gloom in the media (& social media), there's opportunity. But we don't hear about them too much because the people who're taking the initiative are too busy working than blabbing about it.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

manhattan kind of sucks to live, but brooklyn is incredible, and despite my own tales of the subway in this thread, there is no better urban environment in the world than new york city if you are into that sort of thing. on any given night pre-covid i could eat at the best restaurants in the world, casually take in world class art in all mediums, see the best musicians or comedians or actors in the world perform, and interact with interesting people from all over the world. and just about every non winter ski weekend that is exactly what we would do. and its home and will always be, no matter where i end up living.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

I'm sure my mind would have been blown visiting NYC last summer when everything was shut down. I used to visit NYC a lot in the 90s for Grateful Dead and Phish shows. I basically stopped going after 9/11 as I lost my college roommate in the World Trade Center attack. I went once to the site of the rubble in summer 2002 and just really didn't want to go back. Went once in 2009 for a work event, but that was it.

Fast forward to last Valentine's Day weekend and I took my wife to the city for a Ween show. We had a blast and just loved walking around through the streets, Central Park, ate at a bunch of good restaurants. It renewed my appreciation for the place. It's just such a more international city than anywhere else in the country. You just marvel at all the different kinds of people and the amount of energy.

One month later the whole world stopped.

I can't really imagine what it was like totally quiet. I spent a ton of time in Boston last summer, which was also eerily quiet, but the drop off I'm sure paled in comparison to Manhattan.

I wouldn't want to live in NYC. Way too crowded for day to day life. Even Boston is for my tastes. But, I do hope it comes back exactly as it was. Very special city. If and when it does, I'll be a much more regular visitor again after our fun there in February 2020.

in my experience boston downtown gets very quiet at night. the financial district of nyc does too i guess. but nyc really does 'never sleep', and it slept last spring. and it was weird. silence and ambulance sirens.

 

[drjeff]

manhattan kind of sucks to live, but brooklyn is incredible, and despite my own tales of the subway in this thread, there is no better urban environment in the world than new york city if you are into that sort of thing. on any given night pre-covid i could eat at the best restaurants in the world, casually take in world class art in all mediums, see the best musicians or comedians or actors in the world perform, and interact with interesting people from all over the world. and just about every non winter ski weekend that is exactly what we would do. and its home and will always be, no matter where i end up living.

Serious question for you..... Do you think that the overall environment (restaurants, entertainment options, people interaction) will get back to "normal" after COVID? If not, what percentage of "normal" do you think and how long will it take?

And as an FYI, the Brooklyn I live in (CT, not NY ) we're back to probably 85-90% of "normal" now, especially since as of last week restaurants can now go back to 100% of capacity (both indoors and outdoors) and short of what I arguably think is the best ice cream shop in my town that is still only doing car side service rather than walking into the shop to get your frozen treat, as long as you have your mask on while moving around an establishment, it feels pretty "normal" again. Granted, my Brooklyn has almost as many head of dairy cattle as people who live in it, and our "cultural options" are slightly less than in your Brooklyn

 

[KustyTheKlown]

its a good question. anecdotally, the past few sunny weekends have been booming. i have been skiing, but reports are of almost normal levels of activity in the streets, parks, outdoor restaurants. i think after we get vaccinated (and nyc is going to have near 100% compliance except for fucked staten island and bensonhurst), things are going to really pop. there's a pent up demand everywhere, but especially here where people are just used to this hyper socialized existence. the people who fled the city for the most part were the most moneyed people, and i didn't really miss them. the younger and more vital people stayed. despite the high cost of living, not everyone in nyc can afford to snatch up property in the hudson valley and vermont sight unseen and just leave. i like to think that covid is just one event in a long history of cyclical change in new york. i'm only 35, but my parents are from sheepshead bay and i know all about nyc in the 70s and 80s, and how the 90s and 00s were a polar opposite of that. we are not at 70s-80s levels right now - not even close. but the contraction breeds life. businesses turn over. rents go down residentially and commercially. room is opened up for a new generation of entrepreneurs, artists, students, and residents. barring massive physical destruction and sea level rise, this town isn't going anywhere.

also, outdoor dining is lovely in general. parts of nyc feel almost like piazzas in italy. i have only indulged ~3 times all year, but its apparently here to stay, and that's a pretty nice new thing. some of the outdoor set ups are super legit. others look like shantytowns. i hope the city eventually puts some parameters in place so its not a bunch of plywood. but in general i dig the concept.

 

[LonghornSkier]

Maybe I have my head in the sand, but I don’t really think NYC is as bad as everyone is saying right now... I ride the subway nearly every day and haven’t had major issues. Yes, there have been a few high profile shovings lately, but subway crime is well, well below 1970/1980’s levels which you wouldn’t guess from reading this thread... More people have died in car crashes in CT in the last month than people have died from subway violence in the past year. Sure, if I take the 3 train to New Lots Ave and go walk around Brownsville at 1AM, I’d see some shit. But using it to get around Manhattan below 96th st (or 110 on the west side)/North Brooklyn/Astoria/etc at reasonable hours... Nothing to worry about at all.

Rental (and sale prices) are back on the increase, I see green shoots of new businesses opening up, and I just ate at The Musket Room last night and it was packed.


I was in Dallas (where I’ve lived before) in January and despite “everyone moving there,” the urban environment in NY far, far exceeds anything you can find in Dallas, if that’s what you’re into...

As I said in another thread, the city (Midtown especially) faces challenges, but get away from Penn Station and the crackheads (that have always been there-there’s just less commuters to disguise them now) and I think you’ll see that there’s still a lot going on.. I’d recommend hanging out on Vanderbilt Ave in Prospect Heights once open streets starts back up again for the flavor that I’m referring to...

 

[KustyTheKlown]

Vanderbilt has been so nice! Last summer they completely closed it to cars. That is specifically what I was referring to re:Italian piazza vibes. Vanderbilt from Atlantic Avenue to grand army plaza, bustling outdoor dining and drinking scene. Will be so awesome post threat of deadly virus

 

[jimmywilson69]

I'm not sure I could be a city dweller permanently, but I do like visiting for several days. I also like to rent apartments in neighborhoods as you get a better feel for the city that way. Best trip I ever did was for the Ween shows in April 2016. I think we did 5 days in the city and walked almost everywhere.

Having spent time in Dallas and NYC Dallas is super lame compared to NYC The downtown didn't seem vibrant at all. Yes there were some parts that were happening, but by and large it seemed sterile. Austin is where its at in Texas, I have also heard good things about San Antonio but haven't been there as an adult.

 

[LonghornSkier]

I'm not sure I could be a city dweller permanently, but I do like visiting for several days. I also like to rent apartments in neighborhoods as you get a better feel for the city that way. Best trip I ever did was for the Ween shows in April 2016. I think we did 5 days in the city and walked almost everywhere.

Having spent time in Dallas and NYC Dallas is super lame compared to NYC The downtown didn't seem vibrant at all. Yes there were some parts that were happening, but by and large it seemed sterile. Austin is where its at in Texas, I have also heard good things about San Antonio but haven't been there as an adult.

Yeah, Dallas has some good neighborhoods (M Streets, Bishop Arts), but downtown isn’t one of them.

Austin is great (as my username would suggest) but for someone who like cultural amenities, I’d suggest Houston. Best dining scene, best arts, most ethnically diverse, great medicine/healthcare... But it’s ugly and too hot for me.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

ive never been, but houston seems like a city of strip malls. strip malls with fire asian and african cuisine.

 

[LonghornSkier]

ive never been, but houston seems like a city of strip malls. strip malls with fire asian and african cuisine.

That describes it pretty well..

 

[JimG.]

You are wrong about the Oregon thing.

So what you are saying is that I read some fake news.

Not surprising I should remember to not quote anything I read in the media, the den of lying.