The next morning, he and his two siblings talked about their coronavirus worries around the breakfast table in their Upper East Side apartment, a short distance from dad’s job in private equity at Blackstone.
“There are parents who, if their kids are home and they can’t go to work, can lose their income and even possibly their jobs,” Wallace said, recalling the conversation. “This is not going to impact our family like it will a family on the verge of homelessness. What those parents have to deal with -- that’s where the panic is.”
‘Minimize Risk’
Meanwhile, one navigates these exceptional circumstances as best one can.
Emmanuel Di Donna, founder of Di Donna Galleries on the Upper East Side, said they probably won’t go anywhere over spring break. Rather than take his kids to gymnastics at Chelsea Piers last weekend, they instead went to Central Park.
“Simple measures -- you just have to take them to minimize risk,” Di Donna said.
On Monday, Zibby Owens, creator of the postcast “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books,” hosted an event at her Upper East Side apartment for two authors and a fashion designer with about two dozen people attending.
“I’m taking it one day at a time,” said Owens, who is Schwarzman’s daughter. In the Hamptons, their choices are backgammon, walks on the beach, trampoline or tennis, Owens said, adding she’s not changing her three-hour per week video game limit.
Light Fiction
Taylor Berry, owner of Berry & Co. book store in Sag Harbor, said business has been brisk for so early in the season. “People are staying away from politics and pandemics,” said Berry, who attended the author event. “They’re going for light fiction.”
Victoria Shtainer, a broker with Compass in Manhattan, owns a home in Southampton that she’s rented out for the past two summers. It’s currently for sale, but she said she’s getting unsolicited offers from people seeking to lease it immediately.
“I’ve gotten so many requests to rent right now, as soon as possible,” Shtainer said. “Crazy amounts offered.”