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Videos: You're Not A Real New Yorker Until You've Yelled At Your Neighbors To Go Back Inside During A Pandemic
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 19, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 19, 2020
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During the coronavirus, we've seen so many inspiring moments happening across the world: in Italy, people have been singing pop songs from their balconies to boost morale. In Spain, people clap and cheer for the country's doctors and nurses. Pianists and sax players are literally harmonizing from across buildings. On Instagram, Gal Gadot has rallied a group of celebrities together to embarrass a nation. And here in New York City, there have been beautiful moments of New Yorkers...yelling at each other to go home.
It isn't like New Yorkers can't put on a kickass impromptu singalong when we want to—remember the Robyn subway one? Or the Celine Dion one from just a few weeks ago? But it's hard to manufacture an inspirational moment, and right now there are a lot more people nervously trying to adjust to the new normal—or make some very funny jokes—than there are people looking to sing Ariana Grande songs together.
Having said that, there have been a few attempts at trying to rally New Yorkers into spontaneous song beyond just virtual karaoke. About a dozen Upper West Siders were filmed singing "Hey Jude" as they leaned out of their windows from two adjoining buildings. “I’ve never even seen these neighbor’s lights on before … and now we’re having sing-a-longs every night at 7 p.m.,” Gretchen Connelie, who filmed the short clip from her apartment on West 111th Street, told the Post. And the guy below tried to get people into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day earlier this week with bagpipes.
And now, a group of Brooklyn residents are trying to coordinate a mass singalong Thursday night. They wrote on Facebook, "Reflecting on how folks in other cities around the world are singing from their rooftops and balconies, I was thinking we should have our own in our neighborhoods. Let's set a time early enough for kids to join." It's happening tonight starting at 6:30 p.m., and it seems people in Park Slope, Clinton Hill and Gowanus have said they’re in. You can check out the suggested song list here—but it's missing the essential music of the moment, Cuomocore.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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