New York State on pause —

only essential businesses will be functioning.

100% of the workforce must stay home.

This is the most drastic action we can take.”

“Everything is uncharted territory.

Nobody knows what’s going to happen

in the news any minute.”

“I think I’ve been asking a lot of how we

could have prevented this.”

“Am I going to see another depression

like my grandfather saw in the 1920s?”

“Over the past few days, New York City

has taken a lot of important measures.

I’m just worried it came a little bit too late.”

“I think I’m scared of having to see more death

and from reading stories from abroad, having to make

decisions about resources.

And I’m worried people in my life

are going to die from it.

A few days ago, I had to watch a patient basically

slowly die.

I just felt helpless.

This is the first time I’ve really seen people that I

truly don’t know how to help.

And they are coming in so sick that everything

I’m used to doing to be able to treat them,

I can’t really do.”

“How was your day off, Mich?”

“It was emotional, to say the least.”

“Why?”

“It’s just, like, the hospital has been insane.

And every hour, like, things are changing.

So it’s just, like, trying to keep up

with that while trying to read about what I should be

treating these people with, while people are rolling

in the worst —

I don’t know.

They say in 18 days it’s supposed to get really bad.

I guarantee you tomorrow we’re going

to have like 1,000 more.

The numbers are going to go up.”

“That’s no problem at all.

Thank you very much.

That’s very nice.

Thank you.

Sounds good.

See you then.

Bye.

Well, I have been working.

A lot of people are not, which is hard.

This place used to have 30 employees,

and on Sunday we let go of 90% of the staff.

We want to reopen so we can rehire people, you know?

It was really hard to let everyone go.

These are people that are at the level,

they’re not wealthy, you know?

This is a very harsh reality.

And actually what the job is, is smiling through stress.

And this is hard to smile through.”

[Rain falling]

“It’s go time here at the community kitchen.

This is the time where we have to ramp up

our services to be very sensitive to how

people are feeling.

People are coming to us feeling vulnerable.

They maybe work in the restaurant industry.

People who work in Broadway

and in a lot of the behind-the-scenes,

they’re coming here saying,

well, I don’t have work.

So those industries are the folks

that are the first ones that we’re seeing come through.

But we’re preparing to see more people come through

in need.”

“All programming at the senior center

is suspended for the next two weeks.

Stay safe and have a good day.”

“So this is not business as usual.

We don’t know what’s coming up if people

have to stay in their homes for a longer period of time.

And we want to make sure people are getting food,

especially since a lot of industries are out of work.

We are expecting a lot of new people,

and we are going to be ready to receive them.

This is all very new for them, and some of them

are feeling guilt or shame

coming to an emergency food program.

So we have to remember that we do this all the time,

but for them, it’s something new

and something that they feel anxious about doing.

We’re just getting them registered.

They’re getting food.

That’s our main priority is people are getting food.”

[Sighing with exasperation]

“I’m not supposed to touch my face.

Hold on a second.”

“I have prepared myself already,

mentally, multiple times, to go back to Oregon

and leave this entire beautiful dream behind me.

So many people, including many of my friends,

are working at bars, at restaurants,

which are now closed.

And now we’re all at home, wondering,

Can we make it another month?

Can our families afford to pay their mortgages at home?

Do we just need to go back and start

working, just so we can help our own families, the people

that we love the most, stay in the homes that we grew up in?

It’s hard to think that my mom or my dad

are never going to see retirement.

The best things that we can do right now as a community

is just to give ourselves over to something that

brings us true happiness.

Because right now, it feels like it’s

about to get very desperate.”

“This is only something that we can get through

if we’re working together.

There will be so much suffering,

unnecessary suffering,

if we’re not really looking out for each other

and if we only think about ourselves and our well-being.

We have to be thinking about each other.”

[Birds chirping]