Farewell to Masks (For Now)

Two weeks ago, for the first time in a year, I intentionally walked out of my front door without a mask. I didn’t even have one in my pocket. I have been vaccinated and was planning to be outdoors only, and so I was certain that going unmasked posed no risk to anyone. Still, the moment was eerie and profound. And not just because I had that phantom sense of having left the house without my keys, or my phone, or my pants.

Last spring, New York City was the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Well over 10,000 people to have died here before most states began to see any significant effects. Freezer trucks idled in Manhattan parking lots as morgues overflowed, and thousands of bodies in mass graves. The trauma touched everyone personally, and most people in the city have since been extremely vigilant