New York City has been damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Being the cultural epicenter of the world isn’t always a good thing — that means, during a pandemic, you get infected tourists from all over the planet coming to your town, that’s a recipe for disaster. The total lockdown of the city has turned it into a near ghost town. What was once a vibrantly alive metropolis, gleaming with crowds at every turn, has materialized into a gloomier ordeal than most for the Big Apple.
Spike Lee’s new short, titled “New York New York” tackles the empty streets of his hometown. The Oscar-winning filmmaker posted a new short film on Instagram, one which was created at his home during this continuous pandemic. Accompanying the new short is a message from the director himself, Lee writes, “My Short Film-NEW YORK NEW YORK Is A Love Letter To It’s People. Plain And Simple.” (Did Lee really mistake “It’s” with “Its”?)
The film opens with scenes of New York’s silent streets before Lee transitions his frames to scenes of ambulances and frontline workers handling the pandemic. It all progresses towards a slew of shots showing resilient New York residents cheering the heroic frontline workers before finally ending with NYC landmark which will, we all hope, one-day reopen for us all to revisit.