Musicians Hunker Down During COVID

New Yorkers think of themselves as a pretty tough bunch. But even the coolest, most nonchalant among them has to admit: they’ve never seen a spring or summer quite like this one. As the US city most affected by COVID-19, New York took stringent measures to flatten the curve. Whole industries closed down, leaving their workers reliant on state and federal unemployment insurance to get by. It worked. Social distancing kept New York’s hospital system from being overwhelmed, and lowered the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. The City of New York is now undertaking slowly, methodically reopening business. For the approximately 8,000 musicians residing there, the question remains: just when will they be able to get back to business as usual? The first signs of trouble in New York started mid-March, as international flights began to cancel. With travel restricted, cancellations of hotel reservations and conferences soon followed. Finally came Governor Cuomo’s interdictions: a ban on all gatherings of more than 50 people, then 20 people, then 10. While these measures proved effective in slowing the spread of the virus, the sudden halt of public life unexpectedly cut income for gigging musicians. Organizers of events scheduled for the spring and summer initially dithered over what to do. Before we fully understood the danger of the virus, there was a hope that all wo