That Special Time of Year

While it’s true that the Carnegie Deli has a line out the door stretching halfway down the block and you can’t walk down Seventh Avenue without being asked where Times Square is (“That’s it right there.” “But where’s the square!?”), the rest of the city is deserted:

For those worried about getting around town, please do not be alarmed to find an empty seat on the subway, even at rush hour. Nothing is wrong. It is not a prank.

Then again, don’t even bother trying to find a seat in a horse-drawn cab near Central Park for a romantic winter-wonderland ride. Every out-of-towner has the same idea.

It should come as no big shock, of course, that New York often takes on a different personality during certain holidays. There are more tourists and fewer natives. Businesses change their hours, their décor, even their attitudes to match the conditions.

But this year, it seems, New York has become even more a best-of-times, worst-of-times kind of place, depending on geography and other factors. Or so said dozens of New Yorkers and tourists in conversations this week, who have noticed that some places seem more jam-packed than ever, while others are deserted.

I have to say that although it’s obviously bad for business, we enjoy having a bar or restaurant to ourselves. Even the normally hard-to-get-into places are empty:

Even some famous establishments, ordinarily packed, have had surprising lulls. On Sunday night, for instance, Lisa Magnino and her boyfriend, Jon Coifman, decided to see how long the line was at Grimaldi’s pizzeria in Brooklyn. There wasn’t one.

“We were like, hmm, it must be closed,” said Ms. Magnino, who lives in Carroll Gardens. “But it wasn’t, and when we walked in, we were seated right away. There was a couple sitting at a table for four, and they said, ‘Can you believe this?'”