I live in Manhattan and stayed put throughout the pandemic. Compared to months ago, NYC is doing quite well, culturally at least. Yesterday I took a walk from m

I live in Manhattan and stayed put throughout the pandemic. Compared to months ago, NYC is doing quite well, culturally at least. Yesterday I took a walk from midtown to FiDi and back. Restaurants were open, diners were enjoying outdoor seating, families were out and about, stores were open, bikers were biking, and it really felt like something was back to some semblance of "normal." Not to mention that compared to the rest of the country, it feels like we've passed the worst of the pandemic storm. There is a whole other financial issue affecting the city right now, however. Tax income is going to drop off a cliff, many stores have closed, and some percentage of wealthy people may leave, which will force the government to confront its sky-high spending and investments in social programs. NYC will certainly look different, and may take several years to fully recover, but I think declaring it dead at the height of a globe-altering pandemic is premature.