Some restaurants, but not all, are open for take-outs and deliveries. The dining halls are all closed. Unagi Sushi, directly below my apartment, has been closed. A Chinese restaurant that has been around for years, just a block to the south, appears to have closed its doors for good after trimming their schedule a year ago. Troy Kitchen, the incubator on Congress Street, is now closed on Sundays, since it's their "short day", open just four hours on Sundays otherwise (Noon-4 pm). Troy Kitchen otherwise is doing take-outs Monday-Saturday. The lounge on the other side of the space is closed.
The Uncle Sam Atrium, home to state offices and a few non-essential businesses, is closed to the public, save for CVS Pharmacy, and customers enter there on the 3rd Street side. Other non-essential businesses, such as barber shops, tattoo parlors, and jewelry shops, are all closed.
Thankfully, we don't have a bunch of frustrated, shut-in workers yearning to return to their jobs resorting to protesting, like they're doing in Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, etc.. New York isn't like that. Yet.
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Across the river in Albany, however, there might be something stirring if the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) doesn't get a collective clue regarding one of Albany's busiest thoroughfares, Central Avenue.
My brother, who was cut by El Cheapo Media one year ago, changed careers and jobs when he took a job in Colonie last summer. He tells me that an unexpected side effect of CDTA's scheduling changes sees overcrowding on the #1 (Central Avenue) line on weekdays, because the BusPlus (#905-Albany-Schenectady) doesn't have its first run until after 7 am, this after using the Saturday schedule on a six-day-a-week basis since last month. Increasing the frequency of the #1, which runs every half hour for the first 90 minutes or so, would do the trick, but CDTA suits haven't thought of it. While passengers now board the bus from the rear instead of the front, and everyone's required to wear facial covering of some kind, be they scarves, bandanas, or face masks, upon boarding. The overcrowding cancels out the protective measures. Not a good way for CDTA to mark its 50th anniversary.
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As has been documented over at Tri-City SportsBeat, Governor Andrew Cuomo has expanded the "shelter-in-place" mandates to May 15, effectively eliminating spring sports in high schools for this season. Next up would be summer activities, such as the Troy Fighting Irish of the Northeastern Football Alliance, a semi-pro league that gets minimal attention from El Cheapo, the Tri-City Valleycats and the NY-Penn League, the Albany Dutchmen and the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, and, of course, horse racing in Saratoga. Harness racing was suspended last month at Saratoga, and you have to believe there are concerns that the flat track season, set to start in mid-July, might not start on time, absent a truncated Belmont meet. Off Track Betting's television channel is doing their part in carrying Cuomo's daily briefings, which look out of place otherwise.
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We don't know for sure exactly when New York will "reopen", but never has it been truer than now that patience is a vital virtue.
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