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New York's Greenwich Village is considered one of the city's liveliest neighborhoods.

And it's where former Wall Street Journal science writer Robert Lee Hoats, who goes by

Lee, has lived for more than a decade.

He's seen the neighborhood evolve over the years, but wasn't prepared for how deserted it became

when COVID-19 erupted.

To keep from going stir crazy in his urban apartment, Lee forced himself to get off and

out.

He took daily walks in nearby Washington Square Park.

It's nearly 10 acres of urban green space in the center of the neighborhood.

Collective memory may already be fading, but in those early days of the pandemic in the

US, New York City was the epicenter.

Portable morgues were positioned in many neighborhoods and there was one right up the

block from Lee.

To be able to breathe fresh air, to be able to, you know, be part of a life scheme that

was larger than my apartment was just so settling and calming and really made me feel cushioned

against all of the sort of unpleasant and strange things.

When it was during those forced constitutions that Lee noticed some long time residents

that he never really took much notice of before the lockdown.

...