Social distancing: could theatres become temporary schools?
Venues that can’t welcome performers or audiences until a vaccine arrives could accommodate classes - and receive a rent in exchange, suggests Justin Davidson.
Like most cities right now, New York is crammed with empty space. Behold the skyline of midtown Manhattan, a trillion dollars’ worth of real estate lying almost entirely fallow. Although Phase Two of the state’s reopening schedule, which went into effect on June 22, allowed companies to start repopulating their offices, most are holding off, so tumbleweeds still roll across trading floors and skyscrapers stand mute while workers try to keep their employers satisfied, their children quiescent, and their own brains from exploding, all in the confines of our city’s famously ungenerous apartments. As New Yorkers convert closets into conference rooms and use toilets as executive chairs because the kids have monopolized the living room, the prospect of another year of virtual school fills parents with horror.
Like most cities right now, New York is crammed with empty space. Behold the skyline of midtown Manhattan, a trillion dollars’ worth of real estate lying almost entirely fallow. Although Phase Two of the state’s reopening schedule, which went into effect on June 22, allowed companies to start repopulating their offices, most are holding off, so tumbleweeds still roll across trading floors and skyscrapers stand mute while workers try to keep their employers satisfied, their children quiescent, and their own brains from exploding, all in the confines of our city’s famously ungenerous apartments. As New Yorkers convert closets into conference rooms and use toilets as executive chairs because the kids have monopolized the living room, the prospect of another year of virtual school fills parents with horror.
At the moment, official policy on reopening schools is one of abject confusion... Keep reading on Intelligencer