New York City: From a global cultural capital to a ghost town!
Home to more than 8.6 million people, the bustling metropolis of New York City has become a virtual ghost town amid the coronavirus pandemic. With residents sheltering at home, stores closed, and tourists departed, the city's historic streets and familiar landmarks take on an eerie silence, especially at night.
New York City has become the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US, accounting for almost one-quarter of the entire country's cases.
Time Square
Bustling streets of Time Square were empty as most of New York was shut down. Empty streets are an unusual site in this area!
Governor Andrew Cuomo said on April 1 that the number of coronavirus cases in the state had increased to 83,712, with deaths rising to 1,941. Cuomo called on New York City's police force to "get more aggressive" in enforcing social distancing efforts and called residents who disregarded stay-at-home rules "selfish."
(Photograph:AFP)
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station has been one of the world's ten most visited tourist attractions, with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, excluding train and subway passengers. The terminal's main concourse is often used as a meeting place, and is especially featured in films and television. Grand Central Terminal contains a variety of stores and food vendors, including a food court on its lower-level concourse.
The terminal was empty with very few commuters as most New Yorkers are keeping away from streets due to the global pandemic.
(Photograph:AFP)
New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange has been one the busiest streets in the world. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalisation of its listed companies at US$30.1 trillion as of February 2018.
But the coronavirus pandemic has led to market crashes. An empty NYSE was a shocking sight for the world to see.
(Photograph:AFP)
Central Park
Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 37.5–38 million visitors annually, as well as one of the most filmed locations in the world.
But the park has been converted to a hospital in order to ease the pressure. The construction of a 68-bed field hospital began on Sunday.
(Photograph:AFP)