We Asked Parents What They Miss Most About Pre-Corona NYC

All of the reasons we love NYC are temporarily on hold. Here's what some parents miss most.

By Shana Liebman May 27, 2020

It’s been 10 weeks of cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, Netflix, board games, breaking up sibling fights…did we mention cleaning? For many parents, the quarantine life has dragged on interminably without much fun or release. Even though we’re in the city that never sleeps, our options for entertainment, connections, revelation, exposure, food, and shopping (all the reasons we moved here in the first place) have been cut off. We’re mourning our loneliness and boredom and we miss the city we all know and love. But what do we miss most of all? Well, we asked some of our favorite parent influencers that question. Here are their responses:

“The school bus coming to take my kids away for a few hours every day.”
—Mike Julianelle, @Dadandburied, Brooklyn

“Deliveries! Amazon ‘Prime’ takes a month to ship to Southampton, and at the beginning of all this, 50-percent of all my packages were being returned to sender because the USPS (in THEIR words) was ‘overwhelmed.’ I VERY MUCH MISS being able to order things and have them show up two days later.
—Heidi Kristoffer, @heidikristoffer; heidiyoga.com; Manhattan/Southhampton

“I miss the NYC energy. I miss seeing people congregating outside coffee shops talking and laughing; people having wine outside; the busy restaurants; the kids playing at parks. Some days I’m brought to tears thinking about when NYC will ever be ‘the city’ again, and when the energy will come back.”
—Danielle Sapienza, @danielleguentherphotos, danielleguentherphotography.com, Manhattan

“I miss seeing friends and family, my kids’ activities/school, and traveling!”
—Stephanie Minkoff, @stephanieminkoff, Westchester

“I miss not having the overall stress that quarantine and our situation brings. It's a constant topic on TV, newspaper, and even in dinner discussions. We live down the street from a hospital and there are two refrigerated trucks used for temporary morgues and we see them every time we step outside. We wear masks every time we step outside. With four kids, I am looking for a return to normalcy and hope that it happens soon.”
—Jason Greene, OneGoodDad.com, @TheJasonGreene, Manhattan

“I miss jumping into my car and quickly running to a store or to do an errand—it involved no thought, no fear, no lines, and no mask. I miss seeing my friends and going out to dinner. I miss getting massages and going to the library. I miss playing tennis and going to my weekly yoga class. I miss hugging my parents. I miss waving to my kids as the bus pulls away in the morning and hugging them when they return in the afternoon—filled with stories from their day. But I am so grateful to have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and that we are all healthy right now. Nothing else matters.”
—Stacey Gish Wallenstein, @themintchipmama, Long Island

“I miss eating out and simply leaving the front door to go explore all that New York has to offer!”
—Stella Leo, @stylishlystella, stylishlystella.com, Manhattan

“The thing I miss so much about non-quarantine life is my daily interactions with friends, neighbors, and colleagues. I also miss the hustle and bustle of the NYC streets. We’ve barely gone outside, but the quiet and desolate streets make me so sad!”
—Brianne Manz, strollerinthecity.com; @strollerinthecity, Manhattan