In the past seven months, the landscape of our daily lives has changed in ways we could have never imagined, unless we dwelled in the minds of fiction writers like Margaret Atwood or George Orwell. We’ve been transformed into a mask-wearing, hand-sanitizing, plexiglass-shielding, remote-almost-everything state of existence.
How have people adapted? We spoke with a high-school teacher, a hair stylist, a restaurant and bar owner, an arts center director, and the owner of a moving company. Here’s what they had to say.
Mike Beck Jr., owner of P&G’s a long-time institution of drink and dining and a cornerstone of downtown New Paltz culture, spoke about how places like his have fared. P&G’s was able to stay open during the early months of the pandemic, providing curbside delivery and takeout. It has now reopened with limited capacity and hours and a host of safety and sanitation guidelines.
“We are limited to 50 percent capacity indoors and social distancing of six feet or more between any tables or groups at the bar,” said Beck, who, along with his sister took over the family business this past January. “Guidelines from the governor require a purchase of food with any alcohol order. This has shut down most of our bar business and our late-night college business.”
Known as a dependable place for business lunches and family dining, P&G’s has always transformed itself into a late-night watering hole for thirsty college revelers as well. Since reopening, it’s had to truncate that part of the business, closing at 10 p.m. instead of the traditional 4 a.m. last call.
Personnel are now employed whose only job is sanitizing, cleaning and maintaining social distancing amongst patrons. “We have also reorganized our operation to handle the increase in takeout food,” said Beck. “Thanks to the village and SLA [State Liquor Authority], we were able to put four tables out front on the sidewalk.” Business has decreased slightly on the food side and more dramatically in beverage sales.
The greatest challenge has been “to find enough work for all the employees.” The staff has been great in adapting to the new operation and working in the face of adversity. The business has been grateful, Beck said, for the “the constant reminder of the gracious support from the community.” That support never goes unnoticed, and “as the restaurant business is struggling nationally, we cannot thank the community enough for going through this uncertain journey with us.”
The performing and fine arts have plummeted financially. Allowed to reopen in a very limited capacity this summer, they’re attempting to energize, create and find new ways of engaging the public without much of the close proximity these intimate settings have been constructed for..
Alex Bear, director of Unison Arts and Learning Center off Mountain Rest Road in the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains, has worked towards turning their productions and exhibitions outside and their classes online.
Unison has been closed physically for over six months and has only just started concerts in its newly built outdoor stage. Income has dropped drastically. Bear said that she was not optimistic going into 2021 “that we will be able to keep everyone currently employed.”
Unison is actively looking for ways to be a strong community organization by reaching out to senior, long-time members and local youth for support through the arts. It’s seeking to create after-school art-based pop-up events. It’s working also on issues of sustainability, equality and accessibility in programming in order better to reach marginalized audiences that don’t have ready access to the arts.
Ultimately, Bear said that the greatest challenge she faces is keeping Unison solvent. It’s applying for grants even as it struggles to increase attendance.
“So many non-profits in New York State will not make it through this pandemic, and I am determined to have Unison thrive, especially after 43 years of being in our community,” said Bear. “The greatest surprise was how quickly we were able to transfer so many of our events online, due in great part to two of our staff that are below 30 and are very adept at the digital world! Another great surprise is how well our beloved community has been there to continue supporting us.”
In the second week of March, public-school teachers were asked to teach remotely from a computer. As the virus numbers decreased in New York, the governor allowed schools to use the best and safest way to continue teaching. Right now, Kingston High School is all-remote, with no immediate plans for high-school students to return to brick-and-mortar classrooms.
Jane Farrell, a tenth grade English teacher who also works with integrated classrooms and English as a second language students, said that “it’s been an enormous learning curve” for her to go from in-person classroom teaching to holding classes online, alone or with a co-teacher from a student-less school.
“I take two steps forward and one step back almost every day,” she said. She is trying to learn how to utilize Microsoft and Google team teaching. “I’ve also never sat so much in my life. I literally sit in front of a screen for at least six hours a day, if not more.”
While Farrell misses the personal relationships of a traditional format, she said that she likes features that allow her to check in on individual students privately about whether they’ve completed their assignments or whether or not they need help. Technology features like a notebook program can allow her to see students writing in real-time and help them with revisions or when they get stuck. “That’s a neat feature, but we’re certainly losing that one-on-one relationship and that’s tough. It feels like it’s all business without that personal attachment.”
Attendance has been great, especially for Kingston High School, she said, “I never imagined I’d have this much attendance virtually and have so many of my students turning in their assignments on time. That part has been a pleasant surprise.”
Overall, Farrell said that she has never worked harder than she has doing remote teaching. “I end up doing simple tasks four and five times. Like taking attendance! I do it manually, and then inside the program, and then I have to go back and check the next day because they can watch a recorded version of the class and have 24 hours to login,” she said. “It’s those things that you never imagined would be so redundant and time-consuming.”
For instance, Farrell is having to read and upload and then shift to another window to read a separate paper, and then go into a different program to put grades in. “I can end up recording a grade on a paper three times in different places. So, it’s been a real challenge for me, but we’re doing the absolute best that we can, and I certainly never imagined that I would become a tech person, but I think I am,” she said with a laugh.
Because of the intimate settings of hair and nail salons, many stylists and beauticians could only return to work in mid- to late June. Their businesses was not essential,, and their proximity to their clients risky, While a few some underground salons crept up like speakeasies, most played by the rules, which took a financial toll on their businesses.
Stephanie George, a local hair stylist, said her salon “opened later than most, because we wanted to make sure that we had all of our PPE in place and our hand sanitizers and masks and protocols in place for how clients would come in, temperature taking and asking them questions about their health and possible exposure to the virus.”
Out of work for months, George learned how to cook with her mom and went for a lot of walks together. “So, I tried to make the best of it. but it was so hard,” she said. “I didn’t see my boyfriend for more than a month and a half because he was an essential worker. I didn’t really see anyone but my mother.”
Now only being allowed half her beauty and grooming business takes a toll. “We don’t really have walk-ins any more, which used to be a significant portion of our business. If we have room, we will, but typically people call in and make a reservation, as we only have three stylists on per day because of the social distancing.”
“Slowly but surely, clients are coming back,” reported George. “We trust our. clients to stay home if they don’t feel well or believe they were exposed. And we’ve not seen some of our regular clients in months because they’re afraid of contracting the virus or might be particularly vulnerable, but we’re running such a safe operation here.”
A plexiglass shield hangs between the client and the person doing their nails, so there’s really no contact beyond the hands, which of course are washed and sanitized.
It’s all they can do. “Personally, I’m happy to see people feel better about themselves and getting out and getting their hair touched up or cut or highlighted,” she said. She may not be able to see their smiles behind the masks, but she can see it in their eyes.
The moving business is one occupation that has gone through the roof. Paul Benkert, longtime owner of Allways Moving, his moving and storage company in Kingston said he’s never seen anything like this before. “We’ve moved 80 families from New York City to this region since June,” said Benkert. “I’ve never had to turn people away. This is the first time in 30 years, that I’ve actually had to say, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t help you this week.’”
All; his 460 storage units are full “because people are either in the process of moving here or they’re in the process of selling their homes because they’re getting such incredible prices for them and moving somewhere else.”
Allways Moving’s 25 employees have been working round the clock. “Most of my guys don’t like wearing masks, but they have to,” said Benkert. “It’s a hard, physical job, and in the middle of the summer with the heat having that extra layer of cloth over your face is not comfortable at all. But it’s what we have to do, and fortunately not one of my employees or family members or clients have gotten sick, so in that regard I feel so lucky.”
The business owner said that he’s had to invest n masks, hand sanitizers, gloves and other PPE materials to protect his workers and his clients. “The majority of people we serve call and ask what we do to ensure their safety when we’re moving their belongings, and I tell them exactly what we’re doing. Thankfully it’s worked well so far.”
Benkert said that this year his numbers are up by at least 20 percent.
What’s around the corner? We do not yet know, but we’re in a region that is destined to continue to metamorphize.
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