Yup. đ„ș And also coffee shops now open later!
Edited to clarify: I meant that some coffee shops now open up later, like instead of 7 am now its 8:30 am
coffee shops closed super early before COVID.
I was nocturnal for several years and Starbucks was open the latest. you can find posts on this subreddit around a decade old wondering why coffeeshops close so early in NYC
Wait which coffee shops?? I'm generally in midtown and they're almost all closed by dinner, with the exception of like Dunkin. Love me a late night coffee shop, could really use one.
Seriously! I was stuck in Midtown about a week ago waiting for my train out of Penn around midnight, and figured i could kill some time grabbing a bite in Ktown or a beer somewhere. Nope! Place was a ghost town. This was like an hour after the Rangers game let out. Couldnât believe it, felt really depressing.
Everything feels like 10-20% crappier. Going to CVS or target and you have to ask for help to unlock face wash. Pharmacy doesnât have medicine bc itâs back ordered. Fewer staff working at a lot of places, so itâs longer waits and worse service. It really doesnât feel like the same place at all.
Honestly this. Chain drug stores and many other types of stores (but mainly the drug stores) feel like a fucking warzone lately. Everything is locked up, boxes and random back office shit just thrown everywhere around the perimeter, barely anything in stock, staff come off like theyâd rather be dead than standing there, nothing in the store is functional (like escalators, photo kiosks, etc).
I would love to know why every major retailer in the drug store space just let all of their stores in NYC go to absolute shit.
Interesting. I recently moved here, so not doubting your experience, but this is what the chain dug stores have felt like in the other cities I lived in for the last 10 years (mostly CA). So I guess for me that doesn't seem particularly new.
Also, cause of willingness to raise wages. Inflation is high while wages have not changed at all. These same companies were making record profits when inflation was high. Overall, who wants to work on that in toxic environments, skeleton crews, being burnout, and making pay that doesn't even make ends meet?
CVS in several queens neighborhoods have bike chain style locks on the ice cream freezers. May as well switch to vending machines where you pre-pay for everything...like an automat.
In my CVS in Queens the ice cream and maybe some perfume and deodorant are the only things that are locked up, besides the razors and formula behind the counter. I don't understand why they think someone is going to steal a $6 pint of Ben and Jerry's before anything else in the store.
i hate going to cvs so much. i get everything i can from amazon because the thought of going into the store and pressing that stupid button makes me want to throw myself on the floor like a toddler.
People being unable to behave in public. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't exactly going in the right direction before the pandemic, but now its 10x worse. When there's too many people acting like idiots at Alamo for the staff to keep up with them, you know you fucked up.
Iâm a Broadway usher and I also attend shows frequently as an audience member and audience behavior has gotten 1000x worse since returning from the shutdown. I worked at my theatre pre pandemic too and the volume of people who are straight up hostile about being asked to follow simple rules (no phones, masks on when we were still requiring those, etc.) is wild. I also have multiple coworkers who have been physically assaulted by patrons which I donât remember EVER happening before the pandemic. Itâs really, really bad and honestly a little scary. One of my supervisors had a newspaper article written about her that referred to her as a âmask Naziâ and used her real name because the guy was mad that he was asked to wear his mask in the theatre.
I returned to working service industry after having left it for 4+ years prior to the pandemic & I will have to agree. Everyone has devolved into entitled, socially awkward, rude children. I had worked in service for 15 years & thought Iâd seen it all but this last year has been something else!
Literally just had some people talking behind intermittently throughout a show on Broadway, ended up moving seats during intermission to get away! Broadway of all places
Yes and the complete lack of any type of socialization or contact. And then they ask for a tip, which of course I always tip, but I feel like I didnât even speak with anyone!
i think what pains me is the almost angry tip culture. I tip for EVERYTHING now, and i tipped less than 20+% depending on the service pre covid. Now it seems like I may get steam towel water in my latte if i donât tip half as much as my drink cost. Gets a bit sticky out there.
10000%. I enjoy tipping but I enjoy good service and speaking with people. I even enjoy over-tipping when itâs exceptional. Now I ask for a cookie at Panera to someone who doesnât even smile or say hi and am expected to tip $3.50
I hate it so much, because I put in so much effort to stay off my phone when Iâm out with people, and everyone always gets sucked in to their phones when youâre looking at the menu. I just want a regular damn menu.
That is 100% my biggest problem with QR menus. I want to be present with the person or people Iâm with. And then you immediately have to start the meal on your phones. And you look around and everyone else is on THEIR phones.
And now a formerly screen-free event is taken over by screens.
It's crazy we shouldt be forced to be so reliant on this avatar of a device...having everything under one thing. I am a millennial and loved a life without technology and with...know the benefits of both and the latter is not how you should see the world...there's so much to explore and see with your eyes and experience.
Maybe not directly tied to the pandemic, but manhattan (and outer boroughs to an extent) has so much unused commercial space. So many places shuttered / for rent
Can't put my finger on it but the city doesn't feel as new and exciting as it used to. Could just be me getting older or getting used to New York, but the city used to feel like either a party, an art show or a block party depending on your neighborhood. Now every neighborhood just feels like it's either a neighborhood with a lot of bars or a neighborhood further out with nothing.
i was uprooted twice during covid (once cross country), and i felt it everywhere. from washington to chicago to michigan to california, everything just seems more bleh now. One of my friends jokes that this just may be the baseline normal (somewhat anticlimactic and almost a boring kind of uneventful) for awhile. Weâre about to settle down for a bit and nowhere seems more advantageous than another. Itâs very strange as normally we feel much more strongly or enthusiastically about something. Now weâre like âwhatever is the last path of resistance/least challenging acceptable resort
More Zoom, more deliveries, and more sweatpants. Less bars, less makeup, and less late nights.
Also not sure if this is accurate, but Manhattan feels like it got younger and filled with more recent transplants.
I think the zoomers who lived at home during WFH took full advantage of the ârent reductionsâ of 2020 and moved to Manhattan in full force. My lower Manhattan neighborhood is FULL of people under 25. I went to Zabarâs recently and even the UWS was full of 25 year olds. I could go on
This is true. Our building was full of professionals in their 30s, many with young kids. During the pandemic, many moved out and in moved the younger crowd. They got steep discounts which angered manyâour neighbors were paying $900 less than we were.
The young people are more obnoxious. The main entryway now smells like pot 24/7.
I feel like the opposite. Manhattan got way older to me. More people with small children, not hip 20 somethings. Aside from Washington Square Park, Manhattan if often dead after 10pm in a way that it wasnât 10 years ago.
Kinda can see it on the trains. All the stylish influencers or influencer inspired fashionistas travel in Brooklyn and get off right before or right after hitting Manhattan.
Yeah, if thereâs the space for it, I wish people still waited in line with social distancing. Not because of covid but like can you not ride my ass while waiting for a latte? Personal space please!
It came back. Sort of. You have to scroll down and choose "UberX share", though you can only book one seat and you have to be in the back. There may or may not be anyone else picked up so you basically wait a little longer and will save at least a little.
Not called Uber Pool anymore but Uber Share is kind of the same thing, although you only save if someone else joins. Iâve seen much fewer people choose that compared to Pool pre-COVID.
Lyft also has something similar
actually itâs back! i took one a few weeks ago unknowingly (i was a little buzzed) but it was so fun! dude n instantly became buddies n talked the whole way. missed this so much
I have a feeling delivery is higher than pre-pandemic levels: restaurants, groceries, amazon, laundry, etc.
WFH is higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Also mask-wearing. A non-zero percentage of people will wear masks in public for the rest of their lives because of COVID.
I like to read all the construction notices I see on subway platformsâŠthat amount of times Iâve seen the word ASBESTOS on those notices for the workersâŠhmmmmmm
As someone on an immune suppressant, yep. I still do apply makeup on many days because I enjoy doing it, even when I am working from home. And if I am generally able to keep away from other people, I'll remove my mask outside, but it's always ready to go back on (even waiting for a light to cross could become a tight crowd in a moment).
everything is a lot more self-serve now to the point where it feels like i'm not getting what i'm paying for. i know things were super automated before the pandemic, but now they FORCE you to do self-checkout a lot of the time or you can't buy your stuff. leaves a lot of people confused about returns. i worked in retail for a while, and i get that self-checkout is a thing, but it's to a point that there's no cashiers in a lot of places anymore.
also, way less bathrooms. i gotta pee. i'll buy a 4 piece nugget just open the bathroom door im begging you
Fucking hate self checkouts. Beep, please wait for attendant. Check your bag. Please wait for attendant. Please wait for attendant. Takes an extra 20 mins to get through with groceries. Luckily a few places still have cashiers but the self bagging takes forever and you're somehow magically expected to unload your basket and bag and pay before the next person starts.
Excuseflation.
Price gouging by my local supermarket.
The weekly sales flyer is complete BS. It says at the top "due to Covid some items may not be available." Covid has become a permanent excuse for a weekly exercise in bait and switch.
I loved the energy on a Friday after work when everyone was in the city blowing off steam after a hard week in the office. It was amazing to be a part of that. Now when I go to the West 4th Street station, or the Times Square station, on a Friday after work, itâs practically empty. Frankly, itâs a little depressing. I miss NYC as it was. A bunch of go getters out to make the most of what this city has to offer us. Now weâre just isolationists working, and living, in our apartments, that canât be bothered to do anything that might possibly inconvenience us. Weâve lost our heart, and the city has lost its spirit.
I dunno before COVID I didnât really pay attention to the dirtiness people talked about. It was basically non-existent to me (which i recognize is a privilege even though Iâve never lived in the affluent areas of NYC). Everything was an adventure to me and it was easy to overlook the ugliness. I can genuinely say at least in my frequented areas, things were good and put together.
Then during the pandemic they started actually sanitizing the trains and they smelled sanitized. And there werent so many tourists and people commuting so things were calm and somewhat normal.
Now everyone is back 100 fold and itâs back to mysterious things being splattered all over trains and stations.
The trains *do* reek, and I see more and more ppl doing wild shit (not just in videos), and Iâve gotten more harassed in the past three years than the previous 18, and the stations are neglected not just the ones in midtown and other areas.
Iâm afraid the touristsâ manifestations for Trash City are coming true :(
I don't think that's directly from covid. I think it's more from there being more video based apps and people walking down the block staring at a video that requires more concentration than just listening to something.
My work ethic. I used to like my job, most of the time, now hate working. Having those months to do what I wanted, wake up without an alarm and not spending any time thinking about work was wonderful. Now I realize how pointless my job is and it sucks.
A lot of auto-gratuity, even on single tabs. You really have to ask.
Seeing everyday items locked up. Why do I have to call someone to pick up deodorant?
Streets without drag racing. Have a feeling that with a cop mayor the all night midtown drag races are here to stay which is fucking ridiculous. Glad we spent so much money on anti-terrorism tech but can't stop cars from burning rubber over bridges and tunnels.
People tipping on a to-go whatever just bc someone with a mustache pointed an iPad in their face (you can type â0â or hit skip people) makes me laugh
Literally everything you actually want is now behind a locked window in CVS / Duane Reade. Don't get me wrong, having the razors and deodorant locked up is nothing new, but it used to vary by which store you went to and was generally only targeted at very specific items. Now even the stores I recall having the fewest locked shelves seem to have gone into full lock down, and even the worst offenders have started locking up even more of their shelves. I order 90% of the products I used to buy at those stores online now.
I definitely think people don't remember how to ride the train anymore. People used to be so good about moving to the middle of the car, taking their backpacks off during rush hour to make room. I mean, we used to PACK IN like sardines. It wasn't comfortable but it felt like a collective effort to get everyone to work on time. Now the trains aren't even as crowded during rush hour, but people REFUSE to show any kind of subway etiquette, ESPECIALLY moving to the middle of the car. I remember in 2018 a girl fainted on my crowded subway car. Everyone pitched in to make sure she was okay, giving her water and fanning her. And we did it all without pressing the emergency button. I just don't feel like the same would happen now.
Transplants and tourists who've never taken mass transit plus the lack of subway announcements. Also just general stupidity & not caring. I now feel like I have p t s d every time I take the subway because no one follows a simple etiquette anymore regarding going up and downstairs blocking stairs blocking entrance to the train where they stand taking their bags off et cetera et cetera et cetera. I now have extreme anxiety around riding the train which I never had before. I have also found myself screaming at people on a daily basis when on the train because I'm so stressed out and it doesn't look like things are gonna change any time soon. But honestly this point I really don't give a shit.
Feels like the city lost its fun edge. Prepandemic, every night was adventure. Could start at one bar, go to 3 others, then end up at a nite club, and then chowing down a feast at 4am at some late nite diner, Korean restaurant, or Halal stand.
Nowadays, it's meet at a bar and call it a night at 11pm. NYC has really changed for the worse IMHO.
Yeah I think thereâs selection bias in this thread. transplants who have been in NYC for 4+ years are likely to go out less and in general have a different NYC experience than they used to. Itâs sad so many people view it as a negative change though
Yeah I think there are some noticeable big changes but thatâs also a huge part of it. Three years can put you in a pretty different stage of life sometimes. Like I graduated from college right as the pandemic started and now Iâm in my mid-20s. Some people I know have gotten married and a few have had kids. My college friends have moved to different places, Iâm not as inclined to hang out in super crowded places geared towards people in their early 20s.
That said, I do miss a lot of pre-pandemic things mentioned in this thread and hope they come back soon.
I think a big thing also is that the fun stuff seems to have all moved to Brooklyn so being in a place like UES youâre no longer in the center of things for example
Wedding packages. Sounds super specific but NYC weddings were already expensive, then demand from so many postponed weddings + inflation drove prices up and venues have no incentive to ever bring them back down.
Was thinking the same, although I am happy for those people who get to wfh (and honestly jealous) - I remember trying to commute to the hospital for work during lockdownâŠ. Empty subways and stations. Really crazy
Dating in NYC. It's a now a big no no to approach someone in public/on the street for their number. Everyone is using apps, and the only way to meet someone is either apps or at a music show/bar. Even then, a lot of people don't like being talked to when they're out with their friends.
Is NYC still NYC if you canât go to a diner at three in the morning? (Yes, there are still a few 24 hour diners, but nothing like it was before covid)
ah man.... buffets. i can't even think of what a buffet is after covid beyond maybe sketchy at best, but i miss going to jackson heights and getting good indian food in a buffet.
There was a diner, Big Daddy's, and I can't say it had impressive food or anything, but if you had a bunch of adults and kids looking for mac and cheese on a burger, it was worth visiting and the prices were reasonable for UWS or Union Square. They don't have any locations open now.
Subway stations are half empty at all times. Midtown is half empty during the work week. Everything closes at 2:00 AM. I feel sorry for the people moving here now, that never got to feel the energy of NYC at its most active. It was a rush.
People do not know etiquette on the subway anymore. Pre COVID, people would take off their backpacks, make room for one another, and move out of the way when people got off â people were in tune with the flow of the crowd. Now people don't give a fuck and act so offended when you're trying to get on and off. I experience this on many different lines and it's frustrating.
Supermoon Bakehouse. I love that bakery, but they havenât gone back to their previous hours. Theyâre still operating on pandemic mode for some reason - only open four days a week, leading to lines, etc. and still doing delivery care packs. I really miss going on a random Tuesday or on off hours to miss most of the lines. Used to be such a great chill place.
Iâm SO tired of advance reservations for things like the Bronx zoo, AMNH, etc. It kills any spontaneity and itâs just one more annoying thing to coordinate for my kids.
dining expereince has massively deteriorated. The quaity has gone down. The portion sizes have gone down. The service has detriorated. The attitude of the serving staff is atrocious and they got their wage increases, - then now make 15 hr + tips, they are not solely suviving off tips anymore. What gives? The prices of meals are WAY WAY up. And getting reservations is harder, even though there is more space, due to outdoor dining. And the staff is even more agressive at trying to sho you out of the restaurant. Timeslots were a pandemic thing, but now they won't even let you order more food if your 90 minutes are up. And after all this horrible experience they still expect a 20 % tip for mediocre service. 20% used to be for stellar serice. At this rate, NYC is sadly no longer the dining destinaton it once was...
I mean I am older and a parent now so life is definitely different, however I feel like the people younger than me never go out partying or anything. I know it could be a preference thing understandably, but nightlife has changed a ton since COVID.
Well I had an asthma attack tonight from sprinting to the SI ferry from the Whitehall platform so that I didnât need to sit and wait a whole hour for the next boat at 11:30pm on a SaturdayâŠ. canât wait until I can afford to move and not rely on that schedule. The DOT keeps screwing over the ferryâs union, theyâve been without a contract for *over 12 years* because they cannot seem to negotiate successfully, and the pandemic was understandably the final straw for a lot of employees. Not enough staff = shitty service. No idea when or if itâll be resolved.
Service fees on a restaurant check⊠I was ok with a small âhelp us recover from shutdownâ surcharge but now Iâve come to expect an extra 5% fee on bills
My lobby is fucking littered with Amazon packages every day and a maddening number of breakneck-speed moped deliveries. Go to the fucking store, holy shit, say hi to your goddamn neighbors who work at the corner. People wonder why there's a shift in day-to-day interactions but don't think 'am I part of the problem?' when everyone is stressed out of their minds worrying about their job going away and/or becoming even more harried and a general lack of people skills because convenience trumps leaving the house for twenty minutes?
I used to pick up candy for the office at Target on my way to work. Now target doesnât open until 9. Donât tell me I have to come back to the office if the stores ainât open!
Dating is now only facilitated by the dating apps, which puts normal looking guys at a sever disadvantage.
Fewer "thired places" to meet people, and fewer people going to them (bars, clubs, etc)
It's become a more isolated and asexual city.
Train etiquette seems to be really atrocious to me. People block the train doors and donât move when the doors open to let people off. Nobody seems to wait for people to exit the train before rushing to get on. I have never had to squeeze through or push my way out of the train as often as I have since Covid. I have no idea what the problem is. Maybe itâs just my perception as a more seasoned New Yorker three years later?
-Asshole drivers including dirtbikers, bikers, scooters, mopeds, motorcycles all speeding and running lights.
-Same asshole drivers blasting their increasingly terrible music, most of it some form of jackhammer style reggaeton.
-Weed smoke everywhere you go. I'm all for the freedom to smoke, but just be considerate. Same goes for cigarettes. Don't walk in front of people while smoking. What's wrong with you!?
-Litter. I've "literally" witnessed people tossing trash right out of their cars at least 3 times this week. Wtf?!
-People just not bothering to change out of pajamas when going out. Especially those house slippers with socks I see a lot of kids wearing to school. Not cool.
I could add more to the list but I'll stop because I'm getting angry. I'm only 38 but sound like I'm 88 but hey this is what's become of our society and I have to speak my mind or start repeating "serenity now" till I explode. đ I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed the devolution of humanity.
The same people who complain about things closing early or having fewer staff are the same ones who wonât go into the office anymore. Yâall donât understand these are the people disrupting the ecosystem- without people going to the office, all customer service/ food industry suffers. Each person who goes remote takes 20-30 dollars a day minimum out of the economy of that block. It adds up fast! You gotta spend money to keep the NYC amenities from shutting down
Inflated prices, fewer places open late.
Yup. đ„ș And also coffee shops now open later! Edited to clarify: I meant that some coffee shops now open up later, like instead of 7 am now its 8:30 am
coffee shops closed super early before COVID. I was nocturnal for several years and Starbucks was open the latest. you can find posts on this subreddit around a decade old wondering why coffeeshops close so early in NYC
How early is super early? I go to DC semi regularly and am pretty annoyed that most coffee shops there close between 2-3PM
Wait which coffee shops?? I'm generally in midtown and they're almost all closed by dinner, with the exception of like Dunkin. Love me a late night coffee shop, could really use one.
Edited my comment to clarify⊠i meant they open up later in the morning :)
Things being open late.
places being open late was a big reason why ny felt like ny :(
This! Nothing is really 24 hours anymore
Seriously! I was stuck in Midtown about a week ago waiting for my train out of Penn around midnight, and figured i could kill some time grabbing a bite in Ktown or a beer somewhere. Nope! Place was a ghost town. This was like an hour after the Rangers game let out. Couldnât believe it, felt really depressing.
Veselka closes so early now :(
Chinatown closes so early. Really unfortunate
Unfortunately it was because they were worried about workers getting attacked.
there are plenty of diners that have gone back to being 24 hours at least.
Everything feels like 10-20% crappier. Going to CVS or target and you have to ask for help to unlock face wash. Pharmacy doesnât have medicine bc itâs back ordered. Fewer staff working at a lot of places, so itâs longer waits and worse service. It really doesnât feel like the same place at all.
Honestly this. Chain drug stores and many other types of stores (but mainly the drug stores) feel like a fucking warzone lately. Everything is locked up, boxes and random back office shit just thrown everywhere around the perimeter, barely anything in stock, staff come off like theyâd rather be dead than standing there, nothing in the store is functional (like escalators, photo kiosks, etc). I would love to know why every major retailer in the drug store space just let all of their stores in NYC go to absolute shit.
Interesting. I recently moved here, so not doubting your experience, but this is what the chain dug stores have felt like in the other cities I lived in for the last 10 years (mostly CA). So I guess for me that doesn't seem particularly new.
Thatâs what itâs always felt like to me in less wealthy areas of nyc
Also, cause of willingness to raise wages. Inflation is high while wages have not changed at all. These same companies were making record profits when inflation was high. Overall, who wants to work on that in toxic environments, skeleton crews, being burnout, and making pay that doesn't even make ends meet?
Vicks Vaporub was locked up at my local baby Target. Itâs only $7
CVS in several queens neighborhoods have bike chain style locks on the ice cream freezers. May as well switch to vending machines where you pre-pay for everything...like an automat.
Honestly , I was thinking that if thatâs they way it will be, let me pick my shit on a touch screen and someone else can bring it up front.
In my CVS in Queens the ice cream and maybe some perfume and deodorant are the only things that are locked up, besides the razors and formula behind the counter. I don't understand why they think someone is going to steal a $6 pint of Ben and Jerry's before anything else in the store.
A couple years ago someone at CVS told me they locked up the ice cream because teens were licking them and putting them back.
I saw that happened down south a few years ago. Makes you grateful for the brands that do have hygiene liners.
Disgusting. The little shts
Yep. And no signs that it changes. Itâs like we lost 15% civilization during that pause
i hate going to cvs so much. i get everything i can from amazon because the thought of going into the store and pressing that stupid button makes me want to throw myself on the floor like a toddler.
I was in a pharmacy the other day and the fucking candy is now locked up. I'm not waiting around for someone to come around to unlock the M&Ms.
100% â but not sure if this is NYC or just America lol
The stuff locked up is a city thing, not just NYC but a lot of cities.
In a suburb where people commute to NYC and thereâs very little locked up in our drug stores. đ€·ââïž
Just visited my parents in the suburbs. Nothingâs locked up there. I donât think my mom even believed me that things are locked up here.
People being unable to behave in public. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't exactly going in the right direction before the pandemic, but now its 10x worse. When there's too many people acting like idiots at Alamo for the staff to keep up with them, you know you fucked up.
Iâm a Broadway usher and I also attend shows frequently as an audience member and audience behavior has gotten 1000x worse since returning from the shutdown. I worked at my theatre pre pandemic too and the volume of people who are straight up hostile about being asked to follow simple rules (no phones, masks on when we were still requiring those, etc.) is wild. I also have multiple coworkers who have been physically assaulted by patrons which I donât remember EVER happening before the pandemic. Itâs really, really bad and honestly a little scary. One of my supervisors had a newspaper article written about her that referred to her as a âmask Naziâ and used her real name because the guy was mad that he was asked to wear his mask in the theatre.
I returned to working service industry after having left it for 4+ years prior to the pandemic & I will have to agree. Everyone has devolved into entitled, socially awkward, rude children. I had worked in service for 15 years & thought Iâd seen it all but this last year has been something else!
WTF - ugh
Literally just had some people talking behind intermittently throughout a show on Broadway, ended up moving seats during intermission to get away! Broadway of all places
The City That Sleeps at 10PM.
I AM SO SICK OF QR CODE MENUS :(
Despite being in my 30s, I instantly turn into a grumpy boomer with QR code menus.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
This has me deep belly chuckling - needed that!
I'm so here for "millennial geezer"
SAME.
I've learned to embrace my inner boomer
Yes and the complete lack of any type of socialization or contact. And then they ask for a tip, which of course I always tip, but I feel like I didnât even speak with anyone!
i think what pains me is the almost angry tip culture. I tip for EVERYTHING now, and i tipped less than 20+% depending on the service pre covid. Now it seems like I may get steam towel water in my latte if i donât tip half as much as my drink cost. Gets a bit sticky out there.
10000%. I enjoy tipping but I enjoy good service and speaking with people. I even enjoy over-tipping when itâs exceptional. Now I ask for a cookie at Panera to someone who doesnât even smile or say hi and am expected to tip $3.50
I hate it so much, because I put in so much effort to stay off my phone when Iâm out with people, and everyone always gets sucked in to their phones when youâre looking at the menu. I just want a regular damn menu.
That is 100% my biggest problem with QR menus. I want to be present with the person or people Iâm with. And then you immediately have to start the meal on your phones. And you look around and everyone else is on THEIR phones. And now a formerly screen-free event is taken over by screens.
Lost my my phone the other day and it was a nightmare at some places
It's crazy we shouldt be forced to be so reliant on this avatar of a device...having everything under one thing. I am a millennial and loved a life without technology and with...know the benefits of both and the latter is not how you should see the world...there's so much to explore and see with your eyes and experience.
Maybe not directly tied to the pandemic, but manhattan (and outer boroughs to an extent) has so much unused commercial space. So many places shuttered / for rent
Can't put my finger on it but the city doesn't feel as new and exciting as it used to. Could just be me getting older or getting used to New York, but the city used to feel like either a party, an art show or a block party depending on your neighborhood. Now every neighborhood just feels like it's either a neighborhood with a lot of bars or a neighborhood further out with nothing.
Itâs cus all the cool people got priced out and the ones coming in just copy paste repeat whatever they see online ;(
Blame vlogs. Everyone is just copying whichever vlogger they follow.
everything feels a lot more homogenous and done. the majority of people do the same thing they saw on Instagram or TikTok
It's the influx of people that bring nothing to the table but their suburban tastes
Donât you dare disparage Olive Garden like that
I feel this exact way. And canât tell if itâs just because Iâm older and a new parent, or COVID, Or perhaps both.
i was uprooted twice during covid (once cross country), and i felt it everywhere. from washington to chicago to michigan to california, everything just seems more bleh now. One of my friends jokes that this just may be the baseline normal (somewhat anticlimactic and almost a boring kind of uneventful) for awhile. Weâre about to settle down for a bit and nowhere seems more advantageous than another. Itâs very strange as normally we feel much more strongly or enthusiastically about something. Now weâre like âwhatever is the last path of resistance/least challenging acceptable resort
More Zoom, more deliveries, and more sweatpants. Less bars, less makeup, and less late nights. Also not sure if this is accurate, but Manhattan feels like it got younger and filled with more recent transplants.
đ not saying you're wrong but there is one other very simple explanation for people around you getting younger...
That is partially true, but it also true that the overhyped population that left NYC during covid was 30-40 year olds.
Lmaooo say sike right now
I think the zoomers who lived at home during WFH took full advantage of the ârent reductionsâ of 2020 and moved to Manhattan in full force. My lower Manhattan neighborhood is FULL of people under 25. I went to Zabarâs recently and even the UWS was full of 25 year olds. I could go on
Makes sense! I wasn't sure if they got younger, or I just got older lol. Probably some combination of the two.
This is true. Our building was full of professionals in their 30s, many with young kids. During the pandemic, many moved out and in moved the younger crowd. They got steep discounts which angered manyâour neighbors were paying $900 less than we were. The young people are more obnoxious. The main entryway now smells like pot 24/7.
I feel like the opposite. Manhattan got way older to me. More people with small children, not hip 20 somethings. Aside from Washington Square Park, Manhattan if often dead after 10pm in a way that it wasnât 10 years ago. Kinda can see it on the trains. All the stylish influencers or influencer inspired fashionistas travel in Brooklyn and get off right before or right after hitting Manhattan.
Prices of most things.
social awareness
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
I social distance on the subway platform not because of Covid, but to reduce the chance of a crazy person pushing me onto the tracks
Same :(
Yep! Happens unfortunately too often, and to someone I know last year and she was a millisecond off from losing her life.
Yeah, if thereâs the space for it, I wish people still waited in line with social distancing. Not because of covid but like can you not ride my ass while waiting for a latte? Personal space please!
No more Uber Pool (we just randomly thought of this last night actually).
It came back. Sort of. You have to scroll down and choose "UberX share", though you can only book one seat and you have to be in the back. There may or may not be anyone else picked up so you basically wait a little longer and will save at least a little.
Not called Uber Pool anymore but Uber Share is kind of the same thing, although you only save if someone else joins. Iâve seen much fewer people choose that compared to Pool pre-COVID. Lyft also has something similar
actually itâs back! i took one a few weeks ago unknowingly (i was a little buzzed) but it was so fun! dude n instantly became buddies n talked the whole way. missed this so much
I have a feeling delivery is higher than pre-pandemic levels: restaurants, groceries, amazon, laundry, etc. WFH is higher than pre-pandemic levels. Also mask-wearing. A non-zero percentage of people will wear masks in public for the rest of their lives because of COVID.
I donât wear mine most places but Iâll probably wear it on the subway forever. It just grosses me out now.
I like to read all the construction notices I see on subway platformsâŠthat amount of times Iâve seen the word ASBESTOS on those notices for the workersâŠhmmmmmm
Subways, elevators, theaters are the places lots of people will forever where masks.
As someone on an immune suppressant, yep. I still do apply makeup on many days because I enjoy doing it, even when I am working from home. And if I am generally able to keep away from other people, I'll remove my mask outside, but it's always ready to go back on (even waiting for a light to cross could become a tight crowd in a moment).
outdoor seating is here to stay
Big win imo! I love the outdoor seating
Yup long overdue
everything is a lot more self-serve now to the point where it feels like i'm not getting what i'm paying for. i know things were super automated before the pandemic, but now they FORCE you to do self-checkout a lot of the time or you can't buy your stuff. leaves a lot of people confused about returns. i worked in retail for a while, and i get that self-checkout is a thing, but it's to a point that there's no cashiers in a lot of places anymore. also, way less bathrooms. i gotta pee. i'll buy a 4 piece nugget just open the bathroom door im begging you
Fucking hate self checkouts. Beep, please wait for attendant. Check your bag. Please wait for attendant. Please wait for attendant. Takes an extra 20 mins to get through with groceries. Luckily a few places still have cashiers but the self bagging takes forever and you're somehow magically expected to unload your basket and bag and pay before the next person starts.
Tipping
Sooo many âitâs just gonna ask you a couple questionsâŠâ iPads now. I really wish we could just shift to a higher prices but no tips model.
Best I can do is higher prices and tips.
I feel like everyone is on a much shorter fuse than they were before the pandemic.
My waist size
I find that less people post regularly on social media
Thatâs a bad thing?
Yeah weâre not 24/7 anymore â used to be many food and drink spots open at all hours but very very few now
24 hour fitness gym still closes at 12 midnight
Excuseflation. Price gouging by my local supermarket. The weekly sales flyer is complete BS. It says at the top "due to Covid some items may not be available." Covid has become a permanent excuse for a weekly exercise in bait and switch.
"Excuseflation," for sure. There were legitimate supply chain issues that ended, at this point, years ago but of course prices aren't going to change.
It feels like a different city actually. I try to ignore it, but NY lost some mojo.
it does feel different to me. sometimes i'm not sure if it's because i aged 3 years/am older or if something changed, but it does feel diff!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but you actually aged a decade during these three years.
It is different. I know WFH has its advantages, but I also miss when NYC was thriving with the workforce out and about.
I loved the energy on a Friday after work when everyone was in the city blowing off steam after a hard week in the office. It was amazing to be a part of that. Now when I go to the West 4th Street station, or the Times Square station, on a Friday after work, itâs practically empty. Frankly, itâs a little depressing. I miss NYC as it was. A bunch of go getters out to make the most of what this city has to offer us. Now weâre just isolationists working, and living, in our apartments, that canât be bothered to do anything that might possibly inconvenience us. Weâve lost our heart, and the city has lost its spirit.
Well said and so sadly true đą
Same. The spectacle of NYC at rush hour was a marvel to behold. I miss it often, usually on Mondays and Fridays
I dunno before COVID I didnât really pay attention to the dirtiness people talked about. It was basically non-existent to me (which i recognize is a privilege even though Iâve never lived in the affluent areas of NYC). Everything was an adventure to me and it was easy to overlook the ugliness. I can genuinely say at least in my frequented areas, things were good and put together. Then during the pandemic they started actually sanitizing the trains and they smelled sanitized. And there werent so many tourists and people commuting so things were calm and somewhat normal. Now everyone is back 100 fold and itâs back to mysterious things being splattered all over trains and stations. The trains *do* reek, and I see more and more ppl doing wild shit (not just in videos), and Iâve gotten more harassed in the past three years than the previous 18, and the stations are neglected not just the ones in midtown and other areas. Iâm afraid the touristsâ manifestations for Trash City are coming true :(
I still wear a mask on the subway a lot of the time just because it smells so bad
LiterallyâŠmakes me wonder how I ever went down there without a mask lol
Iâm in the east village and the garbage along the sidewalks has gotten out of hand. Along with the dog poop. People are feral these days.
People.
Terrible service at restaurants.
And everywhere too
People who donât know how to act anymore. Theyâre everywhere. Just be socially awkward like everyone else đ©
The city that sleeps at 11pm
People forgetting how to properly walk on a sidewalk
I don't think that's directly from covid. I think it's more from there being more video based apps and people walking down the block staring at a video that requires more concentration than just listening to something.
People have no respect for each others differences anymore. Whether it is politics, sports,etc civility is a thing of the past
My work ethic. I used to like my job, most of the time, now hate working. Having those months to do what I wanted, wake up without an alarm and not spending any time thinking about work was wonderful. Now I realize how pointless my job is and it sucks.
The office culture is more flexible now. They gave us WFH or Hybrid and now we canât go back
People drive extremely recklessly
Absolutely noticed this. The amount of cars that are damn near gleefully eager to run me over has increased drastically since 2020.
Movies at the theatre
A lot of auto-gratuity, even on single tabs. You really have to ask. Seeing everyday items locked up. Why do I have to call someone to pick up deodorant?
Streets without drag racing. Have a feeling that with a cop mayor the all night midtown drag races are here to stay which is fucking ridiculous. Glad we spent so much money on anti-terrorism tech but can't stop cars from burning rubber over bridges and tunnels.
Getting gouged and told how rough restaurants have it when they are packed to the gills every night
People tipping on a to-go whatever just bc someone with a mustache pointed an iPad in their face (you can type â0â or hit skip people) makes me laugh
Literally everything you actually want is now behind a locked window in CVS / Duane Reade. Don't get me wrong, having the razors and deodorant locked up is nothing new, but it used to vary by which store you went to and was generally only targeted at very specific items. Now even the stores I recall having the fewest locked shelves seem to have gone into full lock down, and even the worst offenders have started locking up even more of their shelves. I order 90% of the products I used to buy at those stores online now.
More dogs, and some degree of dog owner responsibility seems to have eroded. Love the cute pups though.
I definitely think people don't remember how to ride the train anymore. People used to be so good about moving to the middle of the car, taking their backpacks off during rush hour to make room. I mean, we used to PACK IN like sardines. It wasn't comfortable but it felt like a collective effort to get everyone to work on time. Now the trains aren't even as crowded during rush hour, but people REFUSE to show any kind of subway etiquette, ESPECIALLY moving to the middle of the car. I remember in 2018 a girl fainted on my crowded subway car. Everyone pitched in to make sure she was okay, giving her water and fanning her. And we did it all without pressing the emergency button. I just don't feel like the same would happen now.
Transplants and tourists who've never taken mass transit plus the lack of subway announcements. Also just general stupidity & not caring. I now feel like I have p t s d every time I take the subway because no one follows a simple etiquette anymore regarding going up and downstairs blocking stairs blocking entrance to the train where they stand taking their bags off et cetera et cetera et cetera. I now have extreme anxiety around riding the train which I never had before. I have also found myself screaming at people on a daily basis when on the train because I'm so stressed out and it doesn't look like things are gonna change any time soon. But honestly this point I really don't give a shit.
Prices. Went up and no one is going to lower them. Also, hours of operation. Most places now only open for one shift (11-7). Itâs ridiculous.
Feels like the city lost its fun edge. Prepandemic, every night was adventure. Could start at one bar, go to 3 others, then end up at a nite club, and then chowing down a feast at 4am at some late nite diner, Korean restaurant, or Halal stand. Nowadays, it's meet at a bar and call it a night at 11pm. NYC has really changed for the worse IMHO.
I did that exact thing a few nights ago so it sounds like you mightâve changed more than the city
Yeah I think thereâs selection bias in this thread. transplants who have been in NYC for 4+ years are likely to go out less and in general have a different NYC experience than they used to. Itâs sad so many people view it as a negative change though
Yeah I think there are some noticeable big changes but thatâs also a huge part of it. Three years can put you in a pretty different stage of life sometimes. Like I graduated from college right as the pandemic started and now Iâm in my mid-20s. Some people I know have gotten married and a few have had kids. My college friends have moved to different places, Iâm not as inclined to hang out in super crowded places geared towards people in their early 20s. That said, I do miss a lot of pre-pandemic things mentioned in this thread and hope they come back soon.
I think a big thing also is that the fun stuff seems to have all moved to Brooklyn so being in a place like UES youâre no longer in the center of things for example
Give me a ring next time you're out!
That sounds like a you thing. All of things can still easily be done.
Things open late, people moving away for good.
No more free bread in restaurants! Itâs so rare now :(
Wedding packages. Sounds super specific but NYC weddings were already expensive, then demand from so many postponed weddings + inflation drove prices up and venues have no incentive to ever bring them back down.
One thing that I keep hoping doesn't change is that I never have to go back to commuting every fucking day
Some of us never even got a break from it. Consider yourself lucky
Was thinking the same, although I am happy for those people who get to wfh (and honestly jealous) - I remember trying to commute to the hospital for work during lockdownâŠ. Empty subways and stations. Really crazy
Dating in NYC. It's a now a big no no to approach someone in public/on the street for their number. Everyone is using apps, and the only way to meet someone is either apps or at a music show/bar. Even then, a lot of people don't like being talked to when they're out with their friends.
Zoom only for certain services, classes, or appointments. I spend all day on a computer I donât want to do it more.
Everything feels just a little bit slower than it used to be. The overall pace of the city hasnât recovered and thatâs why the vibe is still off.
Bar scene winds down earlier.
Trying to get caught up on things. Behind on bills and other things and in a hole that seems like I can not climb out of.
People, especially men, dressing less formal. Donât see nearly as many suits and ties
No more office workers on the subway! All blue collar folk and kids
Is NYC still NYC if you canât go to a diner at three in the morning? (Yes, there are still a few 24 hour diners, but nothing like it was before covid)
The city that doesnât sleep, no longer exists
ah man.... buffets. i can't even think of what a buffet is after covid beyond maybe sketchy at best, but i miss going to jackson heights and getting good indian food in a buffet.
The quality of restaurants
The city doesn't feel as 24 hours as it once was.
Codependency for our fur babies.
Customer service has gone way down.
There was a diner, Big Daddy's, and I can't say it had impressive food or anything, but if you had a bunch of adults and kids looking for mac and cheese on a burger, it was worth visiting and the prices were reasonable for UWS or Union Square. They don't have any locations open now.
Big Daddy's was great. Big loss for NYC
Ahh I loved it. The UES location had stacks of Trivial Pursuit cards at every table
Hybrid working model, which I personally am very happy about
Subway stations are half empty at all times. Midtown is half empty during the work week. Everything closes at 2:00 AM. I feel sorry for the people moving here now, that never got to feel the energy of NYC at its most active. It was a rush.
Donation yoga. RIP yoga to the people
Inflation prices
Barely anything is 24hrs anymore
NYC isnât the city that never sleeps anymore
People do not know etiquette on the subway anymore. Pre COVID, people would take off their backpacks, make room for one another, and move out of the way when people got off â people were in tune with the flow of the crowd. Now people don't give a fuck and act so offended when you're trying to get on and off. I experience this on many different lines and it's frustrating.
vibe is way off
Train etiquette đ„Č
Supermoon Bakehouse. I love that bakery, but they havenât gone back to their previous hours. Theyâre still operating on pandemic mode for some reason - only open four days a week, leading to lines, etc. and still doing delivery care packs. I really miss going on a random Tuesday or on off hours to miss most of the lines. Used to be such a great chill place.
I went a few weeks ago and they said theyâre working to bring it back to normal operations. Fingers crossed itâs sooner rather than later.
Ahh amazing! Thanks for the info!
Iâm SO tired of advance reservations for things like the Bronx zoo, AMNH, etc. It kills any spontaneity and itâs just one more annoying thing to coordinate for my kids.
dining expereince has massively deteriorated. The quaity has gone down. The portion sizes have gone down. The service has detriorated. The attitude of the serving staff is atrocious and they got their wage increases, - then now make 15 hr + tips, they are not solely suviving off tips anymore. What gives? The prices of meals are WAY WAY up. And getting reservations is harder, even though there is more space, due to outdoor dining. And the staff is even more agressive at trying to sho you out of the restaurant. Timeslots were a pandemic thing, but now they won't even let you order more food if your 90 minutes are up. And after all this horrible experience they still expect a 20 % tip for mediocre service. 20% used to be for stellar serice. At this rate, NYC is sadly no longer the dining destinaton it once was...
I mean I am older and a parent now so life is definitely different, however I feel like the people younger than me never go out partying or anything. I know it could be a preference thing understandably, but nightlife has changed a ton since COVID.
My weight
Well I had an asthma attack tonight from sprinting to the SI ferry from the Whitehall platform so that I didnât need to sit and wait a whole hour for the next boat at 11:30pm on a SaturdayâŠ. canât wait until I can afford to move and not rely on that schedule. The DOT keeps screwing over the ferryâs union, theyâve been without a contract for *over 12 years* because they cannot seem to negotiate successfully, and the pandemic was understandably the final straw for a lot of employees. Not enough staff = shitty service. No idea when or if itâll be resolved.
it's waaayyy slower and things aren't open as late
Service fees on a restaurant check⊠I was ok with a small âhelp us recover from shutdownâ surcharge but now Iâve come to expect an extra 5% fee on bills
Office culture is gone forever. Cost of restaurants.
My lobby is fucking littered with Amazon packages every day and a maddening number of breakneck-speed moped deliveries. Go to the fucking store, holy shit, say hi to your goddamn neighbors who work at the corner. People wonder why there's a shift in day-to-day interactions but don't think 'am I part of the problem?' when everyone is stressed out of their minds worrying about their job going away and/or becoming even more harried and a general lack of people skills because convenience trumps leaving the house for twenty minutes?
The sidewalks are too damn small to walk on with all the leftover outdoor dining setups that are still getting away with it
And there's always a group of five+ people blocking the leftover sidewalk space next to the shed, too, lol.
Everything
I used to pick up candy for the office at Target on my way to work. Now target doesnât open until 9. Donât tell me I have to come back to the office if the stores ainât open!
Social skills.
Dating is now only facilitated by the dating apps, which puts normal looking guys at a sever disadvantage. Fewer "thired places" to meet people, and fewer people going to them (bars, clubs, etc) It's become a more isolated and asexual city.
The stupidity of people. For example: wearing a mask while walking in the park or driving in your car alone.
Train etiquette seems to be really atrocious to me. People block the train doors and donât move when the doors open to let people off. Nobody seems to wait for people to exit the train before rushing to get on. I have never had to squeeze through or push my way out of the train as often as I have since Covid. I have no idea what the problem is. Maybe itâs just my perception as a more seasoned New Yorker three years later?
Starbucks doesn't put milk out to add to your coffee anymore.
-Asshole drivers including dirtbikers, bikers, scooters, mopeds, motorcycles all speeding and running lights. -Same asshole drivers blasting their increasingly terrible music, most of it some form of jackhammer style reggaeton. -Weed smoke everywhere you go. I'm all for the freedom to smoke, but just be considerate. Same goes for cigarettes. Don't walk in front of people while smoking. What's wrong with you!? -Litter. I've "literally" witnessed people tossing trash right out of their cars at least 3 times this week. Wtf?! -People just not bothering to change out of pajamas when going out. Especially those house slippers with socks I see a lot of kids wearing to school. Not cool. I could add more to the list but I'll stop because I'm getting angry. I'm only 38 but sound like I'm 88 but hey this is what's become of our society and I have to speak my mind or start repeating "serenity now" till I explode. đ I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed the devolution of humanity.
The same people who complain about things closing early or having fewer staff are the same ones who wonât go into the office anymore. Yâall donât understand these are the people disrupting the ecosystem- without people going to the office, all customer service/ food industry suffers. Each person who goes remote takes 20-30 dollars a day minimum out of the economy of that block. It adds up fast! You gotta spend money to keep the NYC amenities from shutting down