The tribute came across to many New Yorkers as ominous, unsettling, and just plain frightening.
(TMU) — As the world continues to battle the coronavirus, each of us owes a profound debt of gratitude to our medical and emergency frontliners, who have been performing feats of heroism with great costs to their own health and safety.
Nowhere is this truer than in New York City, which is currently the epicenter of the CoViD-19 pandemic in the United States. With over 36,000 cases and nearly 800 deaths as of Monday, hospitals and other critical services in the city have been pushed near the breaking-point as New Yorkers contend with the unprecedented health crisis.
On Monday evening, the iconic Empire State Building made a gesture of gratitude with a glaring light display filled with symbolism that would make clear the city’s gratitude toward critical healthcare personnel and first responders.
Instead, the gesture came across to many New Yorkers as ominous, unsettling, and just plain frightening.
In an announcement on Twitter, the building’s management wrote:
“Starting tonight through the COVID-19 battle, our signature white lights will be replaced by the heartbeat of America with a white and red siren in the mast for heroic emergency workers on the front line of the fight.”
And while the idea of solidarity and togetherness is always welcome in the resilient Big Apple, the sight of the skyscraper’s pulsating in blood-red amid low cloud cover struck many residents as simply bizarre—as if the city that never sleeps had become the realm of Mordor, fictional home to the Lord of the Rings arch-villain, Sauron…READ MORE
Martin comments: Dear God, that’s utterly terrifying! Talk about cranking up the fear-o-meter! Where’s Frodo and Sam when you need ’em?