- Title: 'They're not scared' - Naked Cowboy on tourists as coronavirus disrupts NYC life
- Date: 13th March 2020
- Summary: MAN TAKING SELFIE WITH THE NAKED COWBOY IN TIMES SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENTERTAINER, NAKED COWBOY, SAYING: "What I've noticed is that there are less people here, but every one of these people - I don't want to sound like a crazy Trumpster, but they're Trumpsters. There are people who come out and are going to live every day. Everyone's like high fiving. They go out of the way to show me how much they want to embrace me and they're not scared." PEOPLE WALKING VARIOUS OF CARS DRIVING IN TIMES SQUARE VARIOUS OF TKTS STEPS IN TIMES SQUARE HORSE CARRIAGES IN CENTRAL PARK PIGEON WITH PEOPLE WALKING IN BACKGROUND IN CENTRAL PARK (SOUNDBITE) (English) 42-YEAR-OLD NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT, CHRIS JOLLY, SAYING: "I mean, there's not much you can do, just wash your hands and, you know. They're closing the offices, they're closing the stores. You know, you can't go shopping, you can't go to work. Just go for a walk in the park. You know?" VARIOUS OF ICE RINK IN CENTRAL PARK GAPSTOW BRIDGE / BUILDINGS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON ROCK IN CENTRAL PARK DUCK IN POND IN CENTRAL PARK PEOPLE IN CENTRAL PARK VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF EMPIRE STATE BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 44-YEAR-OLD VISITOR TO NEW YORK, WENDY RAMOS, SAYING: "We had the CityPASS and we canceled it because we couldn't get in the museums. So we came to the Empire State Building, but we didn't go up. But not because of the coronavirus, just because of the pricing." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GOING IN TO THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 44-YEAR-OLD VISITOR TO NEW YORK, WENDY RAMOS, SAYING: "We're avoiding the subways and any mass, you know, big combined areas. So just taking Ubers and walking. Yeah, but we're not too worried." PEOPLE POSING FOR STILL PHOTOS IN FRONT OF THE RINK AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER / 30 ROCKEFELLER CENTER VARIOUS OF THE RINK AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER 22-YEAR OLD VISITOR TO NEW YORK FROM CHICAGO, JESSICA RICHARDSON, TAKING PHOTO WITH HER PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) 22-YEAR OLD VISITOR TO NEW YORK FROM CHICAGO, JESSICA RICHARDSON, SAYING: "I think it's more convenient for me personally, as a tourist. Like places aren't as crowded as they would be otherwise. So it works in my benefit. I just pray I don't get sick. Got hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes in my bag on deck." SIGN READING (English): 'RAINBOW ROOM / OBSERVATION DECK / NBC STUDIOS' VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL GRAND CENTRAL STATION DURING RUSH HOUR VARIOUS OF SECURITY AT GRAND CENTRAL STATION VARIOUS OF GRAND CENTRAL STATION PEOPLE IN FACE MASKS RIDING TRAIN TRAIN PULLING INTO SUBWAY STATION AT 42ND STREET - GRAND CENTRAL PEOPLE GETTING OFF TRAIN AND GOING UP STAIRS AT 42ND STREET - GRAND CENTRAL SUBWAY STATION
- Embargoed: 27th March 2020 20:51
- Keywords: Broadway Central Park Empire State Building Naked Cowboy Times Square canceled closed coronavirus theaters
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002C4VWNYF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:As life in the U.S. upended overnight due to coronavirus fears from baseball to Broadway and food banks to blood drives, residents and visitors to New York City continued with their daily lives.
"There are people who come out and are going to live everyday," said the street performer known at the Naked Cowboy in Times Square on Friday (March 13). "Everyone's like high fiving. They go out of the way to show me how much they want to embrace me and they're not scared."
New York City resident Chris Jolly took a walk in Central Park.
"I mean, there's not much you can do, just wash your hands," he said. "They're closing the offices, they're closing the stores. You know, you can't go shopping, you can't go to work. Just go for a walk in the park. You know?"
Tourist Wendy Ramos tried to visit the Empire State Building, but with the $42 starting ticket price, decided not to go because it was too expensive.
"We're avoiding the subways and any mass, you know, big combined areas," she said. "So just taking Ubers and walking. Yeah, but we're not too worried."
Jessica Richardson, a visitor from Chicago, took photos near Rockefeller Center and wasn't too concerned either.
"I think it's more convenient for me personally, as a tourist," she said. "Like places aren't as crowded as they would be otherwise. So it works in my benefit. I just pray I don't get sick. Got hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes in my bag on deck."
New York's Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Broadway theaters were shut down in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus in the city. New York State has also banned gatherings of more than 500 people in order to slow the spread of the virus.
(Production: Andrew Hofstetter and Roselle Chen) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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