(New York) What a macabre coincidence. The district of the Borough of Queens called Corona, where musician Louis Armstrong and director Martin Scorsese lived, corresponds to the area code where the greatest concentration of cases of contamination with the new coronavirus is found in the United States. Press walked there on a gray and cold day in May, to take the pulse of its inhabitants. Met.
Posted on May 8, 2020 at 6:00 a.m.
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PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Edgar vargas
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“There is a lot of sadness” – Edgar Vargas
“Devastation. The word falls on Edgar Vargas’s lips, who has lowered his mask to smoke a cigarette as he walks along a deserted sidewalk in this early hour. The 65-year-old addiction counselor thinks mostly of his clients who have succumbed to COVID-19 or those whose lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic in his neighborhood. “There is a lot of sadness. Stress is also everywhere. A lot of people don’t work. They wonder how they will pay their bills, their rent, their food. And there are relapses. “It’s a very difficult time for people struggling with addiction. Especially since liquor stores are among the only businesses to be still open. It doesn’t help. The advisor tries to keep in touch with his clients via Zoom. “But that doesn’t replace face-to-face contact. Especially when you’re dealing with someone who is grieving. “
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Maria Picarro
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“Corona is the epicenter of the pandemic” – Maria Picarro
Unemployed since mid-March, Maria Picarro only leaves the house to walk her dog or buy food. She knows several victims of COVID-19. “I’m scared because Corona is the epicenter of the pandemic,” said the 50-year-old ex-manager of a Manhattan nightclub. His greatest obsession: taking metro line 7, whose raised rails cross the neighborhood. “This is one of the points of contamination. This is the reason why I take my car to do my shopping. But I will have to sell it if I do not receive EI benefits soon. I applied twice, but I’m still waiting for a check. She pauses then continues, “I use the last dollars in my bank account to buy my food.” I don’t even have the money to pay my rent. »Looking down, she adds:« This is the first time since I arrived in Corona, 10 years ago, that I have not paid my rent on time. “
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Kamal Alma
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“I have to work” – Kamal Alma
“They were like birds whose cage has just been opened. Kamal Alma, owner of Corona Discount & Candy Store, uses this image to describe the reaction of locals during the first weekend of May, marked by hot and sunny weather. “It’s as if the coronavirus didn’t exist. Since then, the 35-year-old has noted an upsurge in activity in the neighborhood. Some of its competitors have reopened their businesses for the first time since the start of the crisis. He sees clients he hasn’t seen for weeks. He doesn’t know if he should be happy about it. “The more people travel, the more the virus travels,” he said behind a plastic curtain. But he never himself thought of closing his business, located close to a line 7 station. “I have four children at home and I have not received any government assistance. I have to pay my rent, I have to buy the food. I have to work. “
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Gisele Anthony
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“I’m tired” – Gisele Anthony
It is 2 p.m. Since 7 a.m., Gisele Anthony, a single mother of three children aged 4, 9 and 14, has been in line – a line that still stretches a staggering number of blocks. In a few minutes, she will finally enter a neighborhood community center where attendants will fill her basket with free food. “It will allow me to feed my family for two or three days,” said the 34-year-old cleaning lady who has not worked since the start of the coronavirus crisis and who is not eligible for employment insurance. She adds, wearily: “I’m tired. I don’t fall asleep until 4 a.m. thinking about the lack of money for rent, for this and for that. The other day, I still used my last savings to buy a small television set for the kids. They are going crazy. “
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Jekelvin Gratian
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“We will start feeding the community again” – Jekelvin Graciano
28-year-old restaurateur Jekelvin Graciano sighs with satisfaction. “We just distributed 450 meals in three hours,” he says outside his parents’ restaurant, which specializes in grilled chicken (he runs another with his brother nearby). “This restaurant closed for two months due to the coronavirus. Today, for its reopening, we wanted to offer free meals to the community that has supported our family for 35 years. We are always behind on our rent and our bills, but we wanted to make this move first. »Restaurant customers, unable to eat on site, can place orders until further notice. “They are the ones who prompted us to reopen. They were telling us, ‘We need your food, we lack your food.’ We said to ourselves, ‘If the situation improves, we will start feeding the community again which is responsible for what we have become. ” ‘
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