A day earlier, Liang Meng, 22, and two of her best friends munched on nachos and sipped on beer at Boka, a Korean restaurant on St. Mark’s Place. They were celebrating a belated birthday and going over the details of their upcoming trip upstate. Two hours and six bottles in, and the conversation barely touched on the coronavirus. They weren’t particularly worried, either.
“People just have to be careful — full stop,” Meng said, opening her purse to show her mask and sanitizer. Shouting above the din, Meng leaned over a custom-built divider with a sign saying “No Standing. Open Restaurant. Dining Only.” in the middle. “You can socialize if you’re being careful, that’s OK.”
Meng wasn’t entirely convinced young New Yorkers will be responsible for a second wave of Covid — despite the fact that infections were soaring among young adults across the U.S. and regardless of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s warnings about rising rates among the cohort in the city. Most are going out simply to blow off steam after enduring months in lockdown.
Jake Mitchell, who was drinking and hanging out with his friends Cliff and Zach at Blue Haven East in Kips Bay, said he just wants to get back to living his life.
“There’s a lot of finger-pointing,” he said. “We’re in the middle of a health crisis and a lot of people have died. This is very sad. But you can’t put your life on hold. Not when you’re in your 30s.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.