NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A group of Brooklyn artists has a message for those who left New York during the pandemic, "New York is dead. Don't come back."
Their message was on display on a huge billboard that went up on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles this week.
The phrase "New York is dead" was used in several essays about the number of people who left the city during the pandemic. The claim prompted comedian Jerry Seinfeld to write an op-ed in the New York Times last year, declaring the city “will sure as hell be back."
The Williamsburg-based art collective, The Locker Room NYC, say their message has a double meaning and is meant to be a source of pride for those who stayed in the city.
The group's founder, Samara Bliss, tells the New York Post that the city is actually alive and well.
“We had an idea to say to the New Yorkers who have left that ‘we’re doing OK without you,'” Bliss told The Post, adding that the sign is also a "love letter" to those who decided to stick it out.
They are planning another campaign in the five boroughs as a nod to those who stayed to rebuild the city they love.
One sign being planned says, "No Broadway, but plenty of characters."
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