March 11-March 20
“We didn’t know what power we had.”

ADAM WEINRIB: Even from a young age, I always knew I belonged in New York. I also suspected I’d eventually be confined to a single room.

JANE BENDER (Adam’s girlfriend): The first weekend of quarantine, we found this little spot called The Kitchen Counter. We were there all the time. We’re talking breakfast, lunch, and then by the evening, everyone just started coming together for dinner.

WEINRIB: If there was dinner happening, it was happening there.

BENDER: And we weren’t the kind of people who had a lot of cooking skills back then. It was very bare-bones. It was very raw.

WEINRIB: I came from a mindset where… I didn’t want to just “make dinner” — I wanted to make a masterpiece. I didn’t want to compromise. If it’s banana bread, it’s banana bread, but what part of me am I giving to it?

MARK FORMICA (Doorman): It was incredibly clear from Day One that Adam and Jane were using. Seamless. They were using Seamless.

March 21 – March 28
“Our WiFi isn’t ‘out’ — it’s in again.”

WEINRIB: Working from home was becoming the norm. I kind of… made this “desk” out of this “coffee table” we had. It just made sense.

BENDER: We would just play off each other. He would put his headphones on and scream way too loud into a Zoom call, then I would put my headphones on and do the same.

WEINRIB: It took so long for me to figure out how to harness my voice.

BENDER: Some days, it’s not even clear if he’s harnessed it yet.

DARRELL TOLSTOY (Adam’s co-worker): Adam’s always been the guy who screams, and being locked in his own apartment only further emboldened that.

WEINRIB: Eventually, I sort of… entered this newfound age of independence. I didn’t need the things I thought I needed. I could operate on my own. Like I was this machine.

ADAM’S MOM: He was calling way more.

ADAM’S DAD: Like, way, way more.

March 29 – April 3
“Can you mute Cuomo?”

BENDER: One day, it all just… locked in. We’d found an entirely new sound.

WEINRIB: The first time it happened, we didn’t even know what we had. The second time it happened, it was obvious our smoke alarm needed new batteries.

April 4 – April 9
“Face-Coverings and Cover-Ups”

WEINRIB: I remember I went down to get groceries, and I shared the elevator with a man who wasn’t wearing a mask.

BENDER: He got back upstairs and told me about the guy without the mask.

WEINRIB: I was like, who is this guy?! This guy is exactly what I DON’T want to be.

GUY IN ELEVATOR WITHOUT MASK: It was fucked up. I was doing fucked up stuff regularly.

WEINRIB: I mean, was this even my city anymore? Was it time to consider leaving New York? Undoubtedly, it wasn’t.

April 10 – April 16
“It’s normal, redefined.”

WEINRIB: I opened the newspaper, and I saw my name in it. That was… pretty cool.

BENDER: He had fully lost his mind at that point.

April 17 – April 23
“We were kings, by default.”

WEINRIB: Now, suddenly, time didn’t matter. 2:00 pm, 5:00 am… there was just no way of knowing what it was.

BENDER: We were starting to experiment. I took the clocks off the walls. Sometimes, the lights stayed off. We bought plants.

WEINRIB: It’s like I’d finally unlocked MY New York. Screaming at the top of my lungs in a dimly lit room while everyone else on the call begged me to focus and submit my Quiplash answers.

ALICE WINTERS (Adam’s friend): He would never answer on time.

NICK BURNS (Adam’s friend): Never, ever.

WEINRIB: Well, I was drunk.

BENDER: We’d been drinking.

MARK FORMICA (Doorman): They’d subscribed to a Wine Delivery Club.

JACK WHITE (Musician, The White Stripes): Sorry, Quiplash?

April 24 – ??
“Is this it?”

WEINRIB: Quarantine didn’t change me. It just showed me who I really was.

BENDER: He eats Sour Patch Kids in the shower now.

WEINRIB: Am I washing my hands more? Sure. Of course. But that doesn’t mean my dirty hands were any “more authentic.”

BENDER: It’s not about giving up. And it’s not about forcing yourself to innovate every day, either. It’s about putting a mirror up to the world and asking it, “Do you like what you see?”

WEINRIB: I’m reading more. I’m writing more. Also, I somehow lost our AppleTV remote.

BENDER: I’m gonna fucking kill him.