Wearing a mask has been criticized as a sign of weakness, paranoia, lack of faith, infringement of civil rights, un-American, and most ridiculously, as something that can suffocate a wearer by lowering oxygen intake. If that’s true, then doctors and nurses who wear masks all day ought to be superhuman to survive.

Millions of Americans have been devastated by COVID-19. The U.S. death toll has surpassed the death toll of US soldiers in WWI. Americans are barred from entering even our allied countries in Europe, Canada and the Caribbean. Despite how disheveled our economy is today, the anti-mask clan has…

The pots clanging followed by a distant hello

Since late March, the residents of our Upper Westside neighborhood started banging pots and pans, joining the rest of the city to cheer for the first responders and medical workers. Initially, whether I was cooking or between bites, I would grab my wok and wooden spatula. While my son covered his ears, I would send the loudest “gong” through the skinny crack my apartment’s windows can open to. Not like my neighbors across from us, who can step out and cheer on the balconies.

My response to New York Times article — ‘A Tragedy Is Unfolding’: Inside New York’s Virus Epicenter by Annie Correal and Andrew Jacobs

New York on Pause asks New Yorkers to flatten the curve by staying home. What about in-person workers of essential businesses? People who manage the parking garage. The pharmacists at CVS. MBTA workers. Fresh Direct and Amazon delivery crews. Cashiers. Bus drivers. Police. Firefighters. Reporters. Security guards. Doormen. Janitors. Volunteers at homeless shelters. Garbage truck crews. Airport and airline workers. They are all frontline people who need protection our country will not offer.

We need to have…

“Today is March 20, 2020!” I said to myself, amazed to be able to recognize the unusual numerical pattern in the date, as I set out to share another anecdote about Wuhan, the central hub of China that is now infamous for starting the pandemic.

If you believe the numbers on the official real-time report, there have been 0 new cases and just one death since March 17, after the city shut down for nearly two months. New cases have seemingly dramatically tapered after China’s president visited Wuhan. His recent presence since the city hosted the World Military Games last…

Dear New Yorkers,

As I write to you, 22 New Yorkers have been infected with coronavirus, 2,733 are currently in home isolation.

A healthcare worker who had recently returned from Iran marked the first case in New York. She and her husband have been isolated in their home in Manhattan.

An attorney in his 50s is the second patient to test positive. He is in critical condition at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

The infected community of family members and neighbors have spent time in close proximity to the attorney, who lives in Westchester and travels to Midtown Manhattan…