In When the City Stopped, Robert Snyder tells the story of COVID-19 in the words of ordinary New Yorkers, illuminating the fear and uncertainty of life in the early weeks and months, as well as the solidarity that sustained the city. New Yorkers were "alone together," separated by the protective measures of social distancing and the fundamental inequalities of life and work in New York City. Through their personal accounts, we see that while many worked from home, others knowingly exposed themselves to the dangers of the pandemic as they drove buses, ran subways, answered 911 calls, tended to the sick, and made and delivered meals.

Snyder builds bridges of knowledge and empathy between those who bore dangerous burdens and those who lived in relative safety. The story is told through the words of health care workers, grocery clerks, transit workers, and community activists who recount their experiences in poems, first-person narratives, and interviews. When the City Stopped preserves for future generations what it was like to be in New York when it was at the center of the pandemic.

Robert W. Snyder is Manhattan Borough Historian and professor emeritus of American Studies and Journalism at Rutgers University. His books include Crossing Broadway and Transit Talk.

When the City Stopped, a simple oral history of essential workers in New York, provides [a] comprehensive account of COVID's acute impacts and, consequently, its lingering effects.

The book is a treasure trove for current and future sociologists.

This book is a model for interviews and oral history. But its reference to "state of amnesia" reminds us of how important and difficult it is to recall history, particularly in times of crises, and how easy it is to ignore or downplay the past.

Snyder made a point that I thought about as this week approached. By 2020, the influenza epidemic of 1918 had been forgotten by many people, but not by historians and epidemiologists.

The real-life experiences of New Yorkers during the COVID-19 outbreak are at the heart of this collection of as-told-to stories. Snyder highlights the actions, big and small, that people took to help the city survive, including medical personnel who collaborated across hospitals to find health-care solutions, and bus drivers who stayed on their routes.