Coronavirus new normal is bringing bulletproof-window-like shields back to my gentrifying neighborhood.
Bringing it back
The last time I took the train in the morning on March 17th, it felt like I had gone back to 2003. Inside the train were mostly people from minority groups. It was nostalgic. The fact that people’s fashion for a non-glamorous occasion had not changed much for many years made it easy for me to remember the past.
Gentrification in my neighborhood slowly started in 2005. Then it suddenly surged around 2008. By the beginning of 2020, the train riders at my local station consisted of about 70% gentrifiers (new comers) and 30% old residents by my observation. But it was different on March 17th, 2020.
I realized that almost all the people on the train that day were perhaps long-term residents. It was a shocking moment to clearly see the differences in privilege between gentrifiers and long-term residents. By mid-March, many of the non-essential businesses were allowing their employees to work from home.
Staying away from people
Ever since then, I felt unsettled to continue going to work. So, I used my personal leaves for the next couple of days to take my time off from work until I was lawfully able to work from home. The New York State’s Executive Order to let non-essential workers work from home was announced on March 20th. It was 13 days after the State of Emergency was declared in New York State. I was very fortunate to be able to stay home since then.
The only time I went out was to go to the post office to drop off the order packages from my online store about once a week. On my way back, I usually stopped by a grocery store. I wore a mask, a head wrap (sometimes a shower cap), nonprescription glasses, gloves, and rain booties. And I expected that the stores were doing their part as well to protect their workers and customers.
Grocery Stores
As people started to take the Covid-19 disease seriously, essential workers at the grocery stores seemed to be provided PPE. First it was a mask. Then they started wearing a face shield. And since around mid-April, the grocery stores in my neighborhood placed a plexiglass shield between the register clerk and customers. That actually reminded me of the bulletproof windows. It was great that those stores were implementing the CDC’s recommendations to protect their workers. Ever since then, I myself have peace of mind with less worry for myself.
But that was actually so surreal. Before gentrification, many stores in my neighborhood used to have bulletproof windows, but it was never at any of the grocery stores.
Bodegas
Sometime between 2007 and 2012, many of the bodegas in my neighborhood renovated their store fronts with the word”organic” in their store signs to catch up with the trends. But those that didn’t renovate still have the revolving bulletproof windows which had been closed off–until it became useful again during the Pandemic.
US Postal Service
My local post office has always had bulletproof windows. They are kind of like bank tellers’ windows. But the heavy plexiglass has to slide up and down and you have to wait till the inner side closes and a clerk locks it in order for you to open the window on the customer’s side to pass your packages. It started to seem tedious, and I’m sure that it looked unwelcoming to gentrifiers. I remember one of the obviously new residents waiting behind me once called it a “gigantic cubicle.”
While some businesses being renovated, offices funded by public money such as the USPS are always the last to be revamped to accommodate new residents. But it’s convenient that they didn’t take those windows down. The bulletproof windows can now function as a shield against the virus.
The New Normal
Local fried chicken chains such as Crown Chicken and Kennedy Chicken still have their bulletproof windows, but the chain store Popeyes took theirs down around 2007 in my neighborhood particularly.
There are two old liquor stores in the area, and both of them still have bulletproof windows. All of the five new liquor stores that opened between 2012 and 2019 seem to have a welcoming open register without any sort of shield between the customers and the workers. As of today, two of those stores that I passed by recently seem to be relying only on just face coverings.
I anticipate more stores to start putting up clear shields as NYC starts to lift the “New York State on PAUSE” on June 8th. The shield is no longer for protecting against visible physical threat. It’s now used against an invisible virus that could jump from the nicest person.