Kill All Normies?
New York’s foremost memoirist-crank blames the “normals”—influencers, neo-yuppies, consumers with bland taste—for the city’s decline.
New Yorkers who remained in the city during the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to remember a frightening, desperate time of rampant panic-buying, long lines at food banks, rumors circulating like wildfire—and, underlying it all, rapidly increasing numbers of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. Trapped in our apartments, we felt cut off, afraid to see friends and family, not knowing when we could safely return to our lives. The authorities, visibly unsure of themselves, appeared unable to respond to the multiple crises facing the city. As the streets emptied of people, an eerie, apocalyptic feeling set in. At least for a short while, it felt like the world might be coming to an end.
Jeremiah Moss’s recent book, Feral City, presents a very specific perspective on this period—that of a middle-aged East Villager who, for nearly two decades, has chronicled—and lamented—the loss of his neighborhood’s unique Bohem…
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