One Year Later: Bird’s-Eye View of Pandemic in My Hometown

Five signs that our Jersey suburb is still under your thumb, Covid — but not for long.

Driving back from downtown Montclair, I see you, lingering Covid. Fridays once buzzed with latte meetups and weekend plans but now our lives are changed, flattened. The vaccine (at Kmart in West Orange) brings promise, but we continue to ride out:

1. Fully closed public schools. The high school has been empty since March 2020. No kids crossing Park Street with instrument cases, iPhones, lacrosse sticks. No food trucks on…