Seen & Heard: The flyover and a city that’s unimpressed

BLUE ANGELS OVER THE HUDSON
Battery Park City report: the Blue Angels barely got a nod, but the NYPD police boat received extended cheers. (Thanks to R. for the snaps.) We weren’t the only ones that were unimpressed. Gothamist reports that New Yorkers were nonplussed: “Forget the lack of testing, the severe shortage of PPEs, and the huge economic problems facing people during this crisis: did you know that Kansas City got stealth bombers flying over their city, while we had to settle for lousy, stupid high-performance aircraft? What does Kansas City have that we don’t?”

PEP officers then had to police waterfront parks to make sure people were still social distancing.

……………..

AMAZON PACKAGE DELIVERY SCAMS
My building was plagued by this last fall, and now I have heard from a couple readers about this same problem going on in the moment. (This pic at 113 West Broadway.)

TINY PLAYS FOR THE TIME OF NO PLAYS
Tribecan Susan Bernfield, the artistic director of the theater company New Georges, has been sending regular emails with Tiny Plays — several lines of drama and humor for the pandemic era. Here’s the latest, titled “This Moment.”

A: Tell me that you’ll love me tomorrow.

B: …I love you today.

A: Okay.
You can’t promise tomorrow?

B: I love you right now. That’s a lot–

A: 24 more hours after this moment.

B: You know I don’t do promises.
I don’t anticipate falling out of love.
I’m guessing I’ll still love you tomorrow.
Does that help?

A: I’m scared. I need some reassurance about the future.

B: We’re all scared.
There are no reassurances.

A: But you say you love me. So give me what I need.

B: You don’t need fairy tales.
You should meditate.
Do some yoga.
Did you take a bath last night before bed?
Have you been reading or just binging Netflix?

A: Last night I read Thomas Merton in the bathtub.
Then tossed and turned for hours through nightmares about tornadoes and touching things in the grocery store.
This morning I can’t stop crying.
At least when I watch “Too Hot To Handle” I don’t have to confront—

B: What did Thomas Merton have to say?

A: “In order to become myself I must cease to be who I thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live I have to die.”

B: What does that mean?

A: Your identity as an individual is impermanent. Everything that separates you from everything else is a lie.
We’re all going to die.

It seemed a little too on the nose for this moment.

B: That’s because none of the really big things ever change.

A: Your love for me isn’t one of those big things?

B: … I love you. Right now. In this moment.
In this moment, you’re everything I need.

A starts to cry. B lets her. Sits, present, beside her.

After some time:

A: Okay.
I guess that helps.

 

4 Comments

  1. Cuomo and DeBlasio have messed up the coronavirus response. They screamed when the fed tried to close the border and instead urged nyc residents go to Chinatown and eat.
    They kept schools open and didn’t shut down the city until March almost over. Instead of letting all trains run while people still working they cut back on trains thereby forcing workers into crowded trains. They allowed homeless to take over trains thereby forcing essential workers to have to sit next to homeless.
    Cuomo’s own brother who supposedly had virus was screaming and threatening a biker in the Hamptons along with his wife who did get the virus without a mask and not self quarantining.
    PPEs are not responsibility of feds but state.
    AFTER 9/11 A QUESTION TO BE ASKED WHY DIDNT CUOMO STOCKPILE MASKS ? Surely in a city which has several terrorist attacks, masks would be considered essential especially after the dust killed thousands of first responders, why did he sell off the ventilators he received?
    He has allowed citibikes and runners up and down the west side to run without masks thereby spreading the disease up and down the entire city. He allowed his rich friends to leave city head to Hamptons thereby spreading disease but closed parks to poor new Yorkers locked in tiny apartments. This has driven everyone onto to esplanade and west side bike path which as a result is crowded every day
    History will not be kind to Cuomo nor DeBlasio

    • Gotta Love a keyboard hero managing from the stands.

      The needs for this were very specific, to ridicule the governor for not stockpiling is silly. Do you think there is tons of money to stockpile random items? Come on. And it only makes sense that in a nationwide issue the government ~should~ take over the supply gathering. You do realize how much more productive that would be right? NY is fortunate to have a Governor that has taken control the best he can.
      Stop w the negativity.

    • I would venture to say that if Cuomo or anyone had stockpiled several million face masks and 30,000 ventilators (@ avg $35k a piece), and then had never used them, critics like you would complain about wasting tax money. It’s so easy to be a critic… not so easy to be a leader. Were we prepared for this?… no! America wasn’t prepared. Not Cuomo…he’s handling it as best he can. AMERICA WASN’T PREPARED.. and we still aren’t…Watch what happens in Georgia in 3 weeks or so. Agree with Rose… stop with the negativity.

  2. Yeah cuz New York should have war planes flying over it.

    Gothamist = Pro-Trump and anti-Democrat just like this blog.

    You’re all a bunch of closet conservatives.

    Flyover are stupid period ok?

    New York isn’t Kansas City Missouri or Kansas, thank heavens.

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