CORONAVIRUS – “New York, New York” … Usually, New Yorkers clap, bang with spoons or tambourines, or simply shout “thank you” from their window at 7 p.m. in the evening, faithful to their ritual of tribute to caregivers mobilized in the face of the pandemic, which conquered the United States after several European countries.
But the ritual has its variations. Thursday April 16, as you can see in the video at the top of the article, the volunteer choir of the “Peace of Heart” (“Peace of Heart” choir) before called to sing “New York, New York”, Frank Sinatra’s homage to this metropolis supposed to never sleep, symbol of urban boiling reduced to silence for a month.
This great classic echoed in certain neighborhoods for ten minutes or so, coming from numerous windows and balconies – thousands across the city, according to the number of people who had indicated on the Facebook event page want to participate.
“To change bad news”
“It’s an iconic song” with “a real message about getting by,” choir manager Robert Hornsby told AFP. “There is even a passage that says, ‘Come on, you can do it, New York‘, and that’s where I think we’re all at. That’s why we chose it and if you don’t know the lyrics, you can just go back to the parts you know ”.
This is what Vivian Young and her husband did, out on First Avenue with their two children, to hum this famous tune, and greet, from afar, friends who had come up to sing on the roof of their building.
This daily tribute to caregivers, “it lifts your spirits, it’s something you expect at the end of the day, to change all this bad news,” says Vivian Young, smiling behind her mask.
Her husband Mark says he is convinced that the American economic capital is “on the way out”, citing the latest figures for deaths and declining hospitalizations.
Soon “the markets will rebound, people will fight for a table in the restaurant” he said, before adding: “I hope I am right”.
The ritual should however continue for a while: if the epidemic seems to have stabilized in New York State, after having infected more than 213,000 people and killed over 11,500 people, Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended Thursday April 16 containment measures until May 15.
See also on The HuffPost: Hit hard by the coronavirus, New York digs mass graves
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