Day 71----

I'm realizing, as I watch our street from the fire escape, that a lot of people I assumed were tourists in the past are actually New Yorkers. That this is a real city and not everyone is a trust fund kid dressed to the nines in Mara Hoffman or Acne Studios. Some of us are just middling age and just wear what we can afford and don't get designer haircuts. It's something I like about Chinatown, there's a healthy balance of ordinary people here--surrounded by fashion neighborhoods on all sides, people are not swayed. I know a lot of that is a stark wealth disparity. So it would be wrong to romanticize it. But it is nice not to feel glanced over and found lacking like I do in Soho. It's nice to be completely ignored.

But the main point is, there are no tourists here right now. Lots of hotels are shuttered completely or serving as isolation centers for homeless shelters. But there are still the types of people I assumed were tourists, not many, but some, who look like midwestern suburban housewives.

Look up: jump rope lengths for three year olds.