Forget Nature: Photos Show Americans Are Finally Healing

Summer lovin'.

Forget Nature: Photos Show Americans Are Finally Healing

Image: Getty

New York, New York, it’s a helluva town!

It wasn’t too long ago that the streets of America’s biggest city; the beating heart of the world economy, resembled some sort of post-apocalyptic hellscape more than a bustling metropolis. Empty streets and unhappy COVID landscapes punctuated only by swelling protests or yuppie outdoor diners who’d rather catch The Bat Kiss than ditch their Bar Pitti habit.

But now, as North America is enjoying summer – as well as a pretty good vaccination rate – it seems as if ‘nature’ is healing in New York City. If by nature, we mean people getting intimate in public.

A recent New York Times story relates how as restrictions have eased in the Big Apple, New Yorkers have developed a newfound appreciation for public displays of affection, as well as for romance in general. Masks are being pulled down and social distancing is being abandoned all across the city, from Central Park to Crown Heights.

A couple share a kiss near the Stonewall Inn in the West Village. The loosened restrictions meant that Pride Month events could operate completely normally – adding to the overall romantic spirit currently taking over NYC. Image: Getty

It makes sense – after being pent up for so long, and with such a climate of fear, the feeling that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel combined with loosened restrictions must be an overwhelming temptation… Plus: it’s summer.

PDA isn’t the only hot and heavy activity happening right now in New York, either.

Gyms are open again, with the city’s health-conscious slowly but surely heading back to pump some iron. City beaches are once again filling up with people more worried about the risk of sunburn than the risk of catching COVID. Restaurants and bars are getting back into the swing of things.

In short, life is returning to normal.

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New Yorkers swarming the beach at Coney Island on the Fourth of July. Image: Getty

These scenes stand in stark contrast to what’s currently happening in Australia’s biggest cities, where further flare-ups of The Spicy Cough – combined with our currently glacial vaccine rollout – means that despite our case numbers being a fraction of the US’, we can’t enjoy many of the freedoms New Yorkers are currently relishing.

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It doesn’t help that we’re in the middle of winter here, too… And you can’t take advantage of ‘cuffing season’ when you can’t leave your house.

Forget a kiss – we need mouth-to-mouth.

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