New York City was recently rated the 121st best place to live in the US, barely beating out its longtime rival, Youngstown, Ohio (#128). Given the slew of COVID articles announcing New York’s demise, it feels my walk yesterday is worthy of reminiscence.

To enter Washington Square Park on a sunny, 51 degree Saturday during COVID is to see representatives of each citizen packed tightly inside the 10 acre expanse. The dense microcosm resembles a snowglobe, though instead of white flakes, you are enveloped by the sweet, viscous smoke of marijuana.

19-year-old NYU girls share a cigarette;

skateboarders weave through pedestrians as they try to ollie over a tipped over trash can;

Hare Krishnas, whose conspicuously new Patagonia jackets insinuate more white suburban dads than worldly devotees, chant out of tune on their rug;

a woman sells me a painting before returning to her pulp fiction paperback; a clown sits on a bench deep in thought; a guy does various tricks juggling a soccer ball, for no money;

a musician remixes popular songs on his electric violin;

behind him on the grass another guy offers free hugs during COVID, which can’t be helping our numbers;

groups of people sit together, and some people just sit by themselves;

an electric guitarist plays uptempo jazz while a clearly deranged shirtless guy violently hippie dances in front of him, ruining any chance for tips;

and as I exit, Matthew McConaughey’s 1993 doppelganger pulls up to the red light in a VW bug convertible, top down, and beckons all the crosswalkers to dance with him. He, too, is not wearing a shirt.

To quote someone I know: “honestly, that sounds like a lot.” Like the rest of the city, it’s an assault on the senses, and long exposures definitely brings down your life expectancy. But fortunately there are 120+ cities that offer something different. If COVID gave you the opportunity to move away to Reno, NV; Manchester, NH; or Lakeland, FL (numbers 38, 54, and 61 respectively); I hope they give you exactly what you’re looking for.

Me? I love these 10 acres. I’ll stick around.