Maskless in Manhattan
Or: Barefaced on Broadway
Last Friday afternoon I did some ordinary things. I walked from my apartment on West 80th to West 72nd. I ate some ramen at a restaurant’s outside patio. I went to the Target above Columbus Circle. I visited Starbucks. I took a moment to relax at the outdoor tables and chairs by Lincoln Center. I rode a CitiBike back home.
The significant detail in these decidedly pedestrian, if not outright prosaic events was the absence of a mask during my trip.
This first part of the journey, walking maskless from my apartment and eating outside a restaurant, is probably the most common mask-free activity I see in the city right now. In the last few weeks safety officials have really began stressing how safe it is for vaccinated people to be outside without a mask. Before this, when the pandemic was at its peak and when the second post-holiday wave hit, one wasn’t only wearing a mask because it was required, they were showing their neighbors that they cared about the health of the neighborhood. The social impact of wearing masks for over a year is going to be with us for a while, but being outside mask free is a good, safe, first baby step back into normalcy that some people are adopting.
The second part of the jaunt that would have been unremarkable two years ago was walking into a Target without a mask on. Target recently announced their stores are mask-optional for people who are vaccinated. This was the first time I visited the 61st and Broadway store without something over my face (it opened during the pandemic). At this particular store, there is a security desk at the entrance. As I made a few steps towards the escalator, I glanced over to the security guy and pointed to my bare-assed face as if to say “nbd, right?” The guard acknowledged with an indifferent shrug as if to say, “knock yourself out, boss.”
Here is where I experienced what I think will be the biggest factor in people continuing to wear masks even as we see COVID diminish: I felt my heartrate rise slightly and my breathing pattern change as the escalator deposited me on the store’s main floor. Everyone, save for me, was wearing a mask. I anticipated this would be the case, I *expected* this would be the case, but it’s a moment one needs to consider if they decide to forgo wearing a mask inside a public place in Manhattan right now — you will be drawing attention to yourself, and you will be doing it for an act whose only real benefit is personal comfort.
Despite my anxiousness, the patrons of the UWS Target were definitely in a “mind your business” mood. No dirty looks, no parents pulling their children away from my vicinity, etc. As near as I can tell, I was 1 of 3 people not wearing a mask. The other people being a couple in their twenties occupied with comparing two laundry hampers in the home furnishings section. As I moved to self-checkout, the only real interest I aroused from other shoppers was from a guy having issues with a self-checkout register. I was wearing a salmon polo shirt and he looked up once or twice hoping I was a Target employee.
The Starbucks stop I took after Target was impulsive. Like Target, Starbucks stores are now mask optional for vaccinated people. This location had a small sign in the door confirming this. In what might be a strategic move designed not to draw too much attention, the sign looks identical to the now ubiquitous “mask required” signs seen on most businesses. Most of the sign’s real estate is taken up by a mask illustration. Only if one stops and reads the sign word-for-word do they realize it’s stating vaccinated people can be in the building without a mask.
The only customers in this particular joint were me and a couple placing their order at the counter. As it was my turn to order, I noted that the person at the register was protected from any particles flying from my mouth while I was speaking by a sheet of plexiglass that stood on the counter between us.
I’ll close by confirming that yes, ultimately, socially, it is possible to do some tasks mask free in NYC right now (subject to change per pandemic unpredictability). Fears of being assaulted by some sort of theoretical “woke mob” for doing so, at least anecdotally, remain speculative at best and most likely complete nonsense.
