The Dreaded Return of the ‘Park Hang’

In the midst of a new Covid surge, New Yorkers are bracing themselves for another chilly season of outdoor “fun.”

“The whole notion of having to stay away from people again is mind-numbing,” said Manny Fidel, 29, a video producer who lives in Brooklyn.

While he acknowledged the gravity of the current Covid-19 surge in New York City, which has set records for new cases and caused a mad dash for testing, Mr. Fidel also expressed fear that the Omicron variant would reduce social life in New York to its socially distant diminutives: stoop cocktails in puffer coats, long walks with friends to nowhere and a long line of park hangs.

“It gives me a headache just thinking about the days that I was bug bite ridden, sitting six feet away from dear friends, drinking warm beers and rushing through a conversation because we only had like an hour of sunlight left,” Mr. Fidel said.