In Times Square, some long boarded-up stores started to let the sunlight through their windows, even if shoppers didn’t return in throngs.
More people, it seemed, took advantage of the warm weather and expanded outdoor seating to visit their favorite restaurants after months away.
Perhaps the most popular folks in town, though, were the barbers and hairdressers doing booming business shearing the shaggy.
We capture those and other scenes from Week 1 of Phase 2 as the city slowly inches its way back to life amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic:
Persons of Interest in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene reopened Monday with limited capacity and added safety precautions.
Workers prepared stores for customers in the heart of Manhattan.
A Times Square H&M listed safety measures for shoppers.
A group of friends enjoyed some drinks outside Mo’s in Fort Greene, which expanded its outdoor seating onto the sidewalk.
Signs of the city’s deep economic troubles still dotted Midtown.
Molly Marx said it had been “impossible” panhandling on 42nd Street while the area was largely devoid of officer workers and tourists.
“I haven’t had a warm meal in days,” she said.
Workers at Macy’s flagship store wore masks, while floor markers encouraged shoppers to distance.
A Times Square office tower offered masks to workers and checked their temperatures.