Post-lockdown, Upper East Side parents found themselves holding on to their teens tighter just as they should have been letting go. JuliaEdelstein reports
On weekday afternoons from 3 to about 5 p.m., certain streets on the Upper East Side can become almost impassable. Volvos, Beemers, and Teslas idle or double-park, and the moms behind the wheel crane their necks, trying to glimpse the school door. Nannies line up with tanklike strollers, zip-top bags of apple slices and Goldfish crackers at the ready.
In March 2020, these kids were fourth- and fifth-graders at top private and public schools, on the verge of a rite of passage for city kids: venturing out alone. It’s very nearly official policy. Seventh grade is the year the NYC Department of Education stops providing yellow bus service entirely and hands out free MetroCards. But then the world shut down. Leaving home for nonessential tasks was a dereliction of civic duty, and these kids missed their moment.
There’s data to support the fact that fewer kids — just like fewer adults — are riding the subway in general. There were more than 83 million Student MetroCard swipes in 2019. In 2020, when schools shut down and later reopened part-time, student use plummeted, and just under 25 million rides were recorded. That number remained low through 2021, as many middle- and high schools stayed hybrid for part of the year.
The disruptions of the pandemic have served as an extended rationalization for parents to hover — a chance to own their worrying instead of hiding it. And I get it: I’ve often considered holding my kids’ hands while crossing the street until their bar mitzvahs. It’s just that, while buying your own breakfast sandwich or knowing how to give a tourist directions to Central Park at 13 may seem like low stakes, it’s in the DNA of growing up here.
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