I live in a small NYC apartment in Queens with a 7 year-old. To cope in the times of COVID we have taken to getting outside our building through the basement in an enclosed back area where we found a family of stray cats. It is pretty gross but at least a way outside.

Yesterday, our super told us we could no longer spend time out there. We objected and explained that we pay rent and it is a safe way to get outside with a kid who needs some fresh air and time out of a cramped apartment. We were told to never step foot out there again.

Like, really? When we are told to practice social distancing stuck in tiny NYC apartments with kids and no outdoor space we get expelled from the tiny spaces we do find. It makes the images of rich people in their sprawling estates that much more infuriating.

This is nothing compared to the violent policing of Black folks in other neighborhoods and the ways in which congestion and lack of access facilitates illness and death and isolation, particularly now.

Maybe we should think more about public and semi-public space in NYC? Right, @Dromm25 @AOC @NYCSpeakerCoJo @CatalinaCruzNY ?