The New SoHo
Every trip must come to an end so after 3 months of hiding in the country and adventuring up and down the east coast, I knew it was time to head home and face the reality of NYC. While I wasn’t exactly ecstatic to head back, truth be told, I was concerned there might be unwanted critters in my apartment that I had to deal with. The morning I was prepping to leave NYC for my trip, I ate a banana and was too lazy to walk down and back up to my 5th floor apartment to just throw away a banana peel and remember thinking it would be fine if I left it in the trash since I was only going to be away for a week. Little did I know that one week getaway would turn into a 3 month trip! Since I was still recovering from my concussion, I couldn’t remember for the life of me what I actually did with the peel! Did I leave it in the trash can? Did I put it in the freezer?🤷🏻♀️I googled so many times what happens to a banana peel when left unattended for 3 months and nothing came up which started giving me a lot of anxiety as the last thing I wanted was a creepy-critter infested apartment during the middle of COVID and not having a place to call home.
While I was nervous about COVID life in the city, I was also even more nervous about flying. Allegiant Air had thankfully started a new direct flight from Asheville to NYC in June so I bought a one-way plane ticket, ordered a heavy duty (yet “stylish”) face mask from Marcellamoda, and began giving myself pep talks the week leading up to my return home. All was quasi-well until I started receiving phone calls from my parents, relatives, and friends all asking if I was in SoHo as I learned my neighborhood was getting looted every night that week along with the George Floyd protests. The looting video footage was unsettling to say the least but things seemed to lessen each night and I decided to be brave and head back to the homestead regardless.
THE LONGEST COMMUTE HOME
Getting through the airport was pretty easy breezy. I had already checked in and downloaded the airline’s app so had a mobile ticket. I waited until the last minute to enter the actual airport, zipped through security, and walked straight onto my plane which was perfect timing. I thankfully had been checking my seat assignment over the past week to avoid sitting next to anyone and switched it a few times so was sitting pretty well distributed from other people. Flight attendants handed out COVID kits consisting of a disposable medical face mask, plastic gloves, and two sani-wipes. Interestingly though, I was one of the few that wore a face mask onto the plane and the only one that kept it on during the flight. The pilots boarded without one. The flight attendants wore them for photo ops together and removed them immediately after, only to be worn again when collecting trash towards the end of the flight. None of the other passengers wore them either but everyone seemed to have one in their hands or laps. And we wonder why the coronavirus situation is so terrible here in the States. Everyone just wants to do as they wish here.🤦🏻♀️
On the bright side, thanks to having a window seat, I was able to catch one last sunrise over the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of my favorite things to see.☀️
WELCOME TO SOHO, COVID-19 EDITION
While I kept abreast of the news over the past 3 months about all the changes happening in the city, I still felt like Rip Van Winkle as the city has completely changed. Some aspects look quite the same - like my actual block - but others are complete shells of a past time. Starting at the airport which was completely empty inside, vaguely giving off Midwest vibes. I ordered a Lyft home and realized there is now a QR code app feature so you can scan the car to make sure it’s yours before getting in (and maybe not have to talk to the driver?). It was my first time taking a rideshare in 3 months and was surprised (yet pleased!) to see there were plastic dividers inside shielding the driver from the passenger. He was well masked and wore gloves thankfully.🙏🏻 The backseat pocket was also filled with various bottles of jumbo hand sanitizers and instructions asking you to wipe down the backseat if you are asked.
We drove up 6th avenue on my ride home and while Tribeca appeared untouched, you could clearly see the transition to SoHo where everything was boarded up. We turned onto my block and was relieved to find that my street looked the same as usual. Just another residential block in the city. I headed into my building and pretty quickly saw the changes though.
My building had always been super safe to the point that UPS/Fedex deliveries would sometimes be left in front of the building, whether on the street or in the building entryway, and no one would ever touch them. Now there were signs posted in the entryway pleading with delivery companies to no longer leave their packages outside as everyone’s packages have gone missing. There were now also multiple posts in the foyer from the management company about how to conduct life in the building to minimize interactions with one another as well as actions they were taking themselves to keep the building sanitized.
What about the banana peel??
I was super nervous about opening my apartment door so was pleased to see that everything was in place, just as I left it, critter-free and non-smelly!🎉
What happened to the banana peel?😯 Turns out I left it on my glass dining table with the intention to take it with me downstairs when leaving the apartment. Instead, it was left all by itself and just slowly dried up it seems. I’m not sure if it’s because it was on a glass table and near the radiator but this was definitely the best case scenario! So there we have it folks, this is what happens to a banana peel when left by itself on a glass table for 3 months in a non air-conditioned apartment.
FUN FACT: I interestingly learned that it takes about 2 years for a banana peel to biodegrade. So never leave a banana peel out in nature as you are littering. It’s better off being put in a proper bin or composted which takes 2-3 weeks instead.🍌
After settling into the apartment, I walked around my new neighborhood. Between the empty streets, the boarded up stores, and scattered broken glass across the sidewalks, I realized SoHo has become in a way, no mans land. West Broadway is particularly tragic with the unpaved road, feeling like the wild wild west. Turning onto other paved streets felt more normal, everything just looks rundown. Stores hit particularly hard by the looters have chosen to remove their company names from their store exteriors, most likely to prevent further looting. Everywhere you look seems like remnants of a golden era though. With all the new canvases available, street art was bound to pop up and the best one I’ve seen so far is the New York version of Eugene Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” at the Kendra Scott store. While the original piece epitomizes the spirit of the French revolution, this version captures the essence of what is happening now in the States.
I’ve been back now for a week and while it was shocking at first to be living in a more deserted part of the city and hearing the persistent sounds of helicopters huddling above the neighborhood, I’ve somehow adapted and am easily reminded of my own resiliency like most New Yorkers.