Freelance Writer Grocery

Dakota Champagne

Non-fiction and Social Justice

Michale MacDonald

The Sterns family owned three properties in Brooklyn. One three story brownstone located in the center of Park Slope less than a five minute walk from Prospect Park, one small two bedroom apartment on top of a pizza shop, and another small retail space which was rented out by a Juice shop. They were intent on living in New York and had no desire to ever leave, that was until the pandemic hit in March. Terrified of living in a city with a deadly disease travelling around the family promptly sold their properties and moved into a large house in Vermont. The Sterns family wasn’t alone in their flight. Hundreds of thousands of wealthy New Yorkers left the city after the pandemic began, fleeing to already owned second houses in the Hamptons or buying new properties in states such as Vermont and Massachusetts. The New York Times reported that over 5% of the it’s city residents have left. Affluent neighborhoods such as SoHo and Brooklyn Heights lost more than 40% of their population. The amount of wealthy New Yorkers who chose to leave the city was so large that Avenues k-12 school opened up a new location in the Hamptons. The Avenues school is one of New York’s elite private schools which charges over 56k a year in tuition. So many of their students left to go live in the Hamptons that it only made sense for the school to move too. Many families did not have the option to leave the city when the pandemic hit. Without the resources to buy a second home, millions of people suffered as the virus surged in the streets of New York. Lower income communities and communities of color were hit the hardest. Many of these people did not have the option to stop work or work from home so they continued to interact with hundreds of new people everyday. Additionally, lower income communities tend to have higher rates of health issues making recovery from the virus especially difficult. This is due to a lack of access to affordable and nutritious foods. When the Sterns family left the city, they left behind hundreds of thousands of businesses Dakota Champagne

Non-fiction and Social Justice

Michale MacDonald

and fellow New Yorkers who were economically dependent on them. The city lost thousands in tax dollars, which could prevent them from adequately carrying certain COVID relief policies. In fact, some believe that this could cause long term negative impacts as the city may be forced to cut certain social welfare programs. The stores which were previously flocked by wealthy shoppers are struggling to stay afloat. In the Upper West Side grocery stores which in the beginning of the pandemic saw their shelves being emptied are suddenly struggling to find customers.

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The house in Vermont was nice. It had a large backyard and each one of the Stern’s kids got their own bedroom. The family didn’t have neighbors like they had in the city, but they could still see the other houses surrounding them. The town they moved to had a quaint downtown area with local shops and restaurants. The Stern’s family quickly enrolled their kids in the local high school, forgetting about the struggling city they left behind. Although things seemed to be looking up for the Sterns, they quickly realized the town they moved to in Vermont was less than welcoming. Many of the residents were upset that a family had moved from the city which continues to be a hot spot for the virus. Not only did the Stern’s family move from the city, but they continued to travel back and forth between the two locations.

All of the communities which affluent New Yorkers were choosing to move to were unhappy with their decision. When the New Yorkers came to these small towns they put their citizens lives in jeopardy by potentially spreading the virus. However, worse than this the sudden influx of new residents put a strain on the community's resources. Most communities were Dakota Champagne

Non-fiction and Social Justice

Michale MacDonald

already struggling to support their residents in terms of both health care and essential goods, and they did not have the time or resources to accommodate thousands of new residents. No matter where the Sterns chose to live, the communities around them would be struggling. However, the Stern’s family would get to exist relatively unaffected.

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