The City That Never Sleeps looked more like a ghost town on Wednesday, as the subways, Rockefeller Center and even Times Square were virtually deserted amid a wave of coronavirus panic.
“This is affecting a lot of people,” said Karen Koag, a worker at the Coney Shack food stand at the Crossroads of the World.
“Nobody wants to go out and be in a crowded place because they think they will get infected,” said Koag, 24. “People are scared.”
Ahmed Froogh said that his normally hopping breakfast cart near Union Square saw only one customer between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. — as he made only a single sale of a coffee for a buck.
“What is one dollar going to do? I got to make my mortgage,” moaned Froogh, 56. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
To help allay fears, Froogh bought a big bottle of increasingly precious hand sanitizer for customers to use — but it was stolen, he said.
Meanwhile, a W train pulled in to 14th Street–Union Square with just a handful of rush-hour riders at 7:41 a.m.
With travel advisories in effect around the world, even tourists are staying away, with the Brooklyn Bridge barren even on a balmy late-winter day.
“I locked myself in my mom’s house. Then I realized I have to make money,” cracked bridge souvenir vendor Tom Lu.
“I have to take the risk and come out here and still I’m not making any money,” said the 27-year-old Brooklyn resident.
