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The City Sleeps: A look at empty NYC streets amid the coronavirus pandemic

Efforts to contain coronavirus have completely altered the New Yorker way of life

Mar 23rd 2020 at 12:53PM
Times Square, which is usually very crowded on a weekday morning, is mostly empty Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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  • Times Square, which is usually very crowded on a weekday morning, is mostly empty Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 3/22/20 The Coronavirus brings commerce to a halt as taxi cabs sit empty and high end retailers and other venues shutter operations.
  • Times Square, which is usually very crowded on a weekday morning, is mostly empty Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A man walks through a nearly empty Times Square, which is usually very crowded on a weekday morning, Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • Un ciclista tiene una amplia avenida de Nueva York para él solo el 22 de marzo del 2020. Las calles de la Gran Manzana están vacías en medio de la crisis del coronavirus. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
  • A woman cycles up Sixth Avenue, Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 3/22/20 The Coronavirus brings commerce to a halt as taxi cabs sit empty and high end retailers and other venues shutter operations.
  • A commuter crosses 42nd Street in front of Grand Central Terminal during morning rush hour, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • Commuters cross 42nd Street in front of Grand Central Terminal during morning rush hour, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A subway customer wears protective gloves and a face mask due to COVID-19 concerns while walking along an empty train platform at the Cortlandt Street station, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced sweeping orders Friday that will severely restrict gatherings of any size for the state's more than 19 million residents and will require workers in nonessential businesses to stay home. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • Commuters pass through Grand Central Terminal during the morning rush hour, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 3/22/20 The Coronavirus brings commerce to a halt as taxi cabs sit empty and high end retailers and other venues shutter operations.
  • Ines Tshiyomba, center, poses as her friend Garethe Mawonso takes her photo on the Brooklyn Bridge, Monday, March 16, 2020 in New York. The Parisians are stuck in New York for another day as their return flight was cancelled. The bridge's pedestrian path is normally crowded on a sunny day. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A lone pedestrian walks down Broadway as COVID-19 concerns empty a typically bustling downtown area, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced sweeping orders Friday that will severely restrict gatherings of any size for the state's more than 19 million residents and will require workers in nonessential businesses to stay home. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • A man is dwarfed against the transportation hub and shopping mall known as the Oculus as he rides his skateboard in downtown Manhattan on Sunday, March 22, 2020, in downtown New York. New York City's mayor prepared Sunday to order his city behind closed doors in an attempt to slow a pandemic that has swept across the globe and threatened to make the city of 8.5 million one of the world's biggest coronavirus hot spots. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
  • A security guard walks through a sparsely populated transit hub in the downtown financial district as retail stores remain shuttered due to COVID-19 concerns, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in New York. As of Sunday, nearly 2,000 people with the virus have been hospitalized in the state of New York and 114 have died, officials said. More than 15,000 have tested positive statewide, including 9,000 in New York City. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • A single vehicle heads downtown along the west side highway as COVID-19 concerns empties a typically busy thoroughfare, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced sweeping orders Friday that will severely restrict gatherings of any size for the state's more than 19 million residents and will require workers in nonessential businesses to stay home. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • A lone pedestrian walks down Broadway past the Charging Bull statue as COVID-19 concerns empty a typically bustling downtown area, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced sweeping orders Friday that will severely restrict gatherings of any size for the state's more than 19 million residents and will require workers in nonessential businesses to stay home. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 3/23/20 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) goes fully electronic today without floor traders as the Coronavirus continues to spread. (Wall Street, NYC)
  • A lone pedestrian wearing a protective mask walks past the New York Stock Exchange as COVID-19 concerns empty a typically bustling downtown area, Saturday, March 21, 2020, in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced sweeping orders Friday that will severely restrict gatherings of any size for the state's more than 19 million residents and will require workers in nonessential businesses to stay home. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive or FDR, a parkway on the east side of New York is seen with few vehicles, on Sunday, March 22, 2020. New York City's mayor prepared Sunday to order his city behind closed doors in an attempt to slow a pandemic that has swept across the globe and threatened to make the city of 8.5 million one of the world's biggest coronavirus hot spots. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
  • The road which runs through Central Park is free of traffic in New York, on Sunday, March 22, 2020. New York City's mayor prepared Sunday to order his city behind closed doors in an attempt to slow a pandemic that has swept across the globe and threatened to make the city of 8.5 million one of the world's biggest coronavirus hot spots. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
  • Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 3/22/20 The Coronavirus brings commerce to a halt as taxi cabs sit empty and high end retailers and other venues shutter operations.
  • Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 3/22/20 The Coronavirus brings commerce to a halt as taxi cabs sit empty and high end retailers and other venues shutter operations.
  • A lone pedestrian walks down the Bowery while wearing a protective mask and glass as a sign urging people to remain home due to coronavirus concerns is displayed, Monday, March 23, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
  • Commuters are in the intersection of Fifth Ave. and 42nd Street, which is normally very crowded on a weekday morning, Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A commuter crosses Madison Ave., Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A man wrapped in a blanket crosses 42nd Street at Sixth Avenue, which is usually a very busy pedestrian intersection on a weekday morning, Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A commuter walks by the entrance to Grand Central Terminal, Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered most New Yorkers to stay home from work to slow the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
  • A pedestrian walks their dog through a quiet street, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As of Sunday, nearly 2,000 people with the virus have been hospitalized in the state of New York, and 114 have died, officials said. More than 15,000 have tested positive statewide, including 9,000 in New York City. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as of Sunday, March 22, nearly 2,000 New Yorkers have been hospitalized, and 114 have died. More than 15,000 have tested positive statewide. Some 9,000 of those are in New York City. In response, Cuomo announced a new state order Sunday at 8 p.m. requiring all nonessential employees to stay at home. Nonessential gatherings of individuals of any size or for any reason have also been canceled or postponed.

The impact on the usually bustling city were visible throughout New York City. Efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus have completely altered the usual New Yorker way of life, effectively putting the “city that never sleeps” to sleep in the last week after it became one of the nation's epicenters for the fast-spreading virus.

Take a look at the image gallery up above. You'll see a New York City that you simply don't recognize. A desolate Times Square still lit up with no one to see its billboards. The usually bustling Grand Central Terminal empty, except for a lone traveler. Only a few people snapping selfies on the Brooklyn Bridge, instead of the horde of commuters and tourists that usually venture across the iconic span.

The Charging Bull, a popular tourist attraction near the Stock Exchange normally surrounded by tourists, stood alone with no one in sight, with the occasional selfie-seeking person taking advantage of what may be a once-in-a-lifetime picture. Once-packed subway cars had only a few passengers, almost all wearing face masks.

And a row of Broadway theaters were still illuminated even though they are shuttered until mid-April, a sign that the show will go on.

It's not yet clear when the city will reopen, but until it does, expect to see deserted scenes like the ones you see above.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Featured GalleryEmpty streets in New York City
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