New York City, the Big Apple, home to over 8 million people who speak over 800 languages, has joined many other cities to commemorate frontline workers in a grand display. The #clapbecausewecare initiative began as a way to encourage people across the nation to acknowledge the dedication, sacrifice, and hard work put forth by front line workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, from nurses to grocery store clerks to garbage collectors. This movement is, quite literally, a three-to-five minute period of applause from members of a city or community.

Each day at 7 p.m., thunderous applause booms throughout the city, stretching from one borough to the next. Cheers, car horns and the sound of spoons banging on the backs of metal pots fill the streets as an entire city comes together in a few moments of gratitude. “At 7 p.m. every night the city wakes up with claps, pots, pans honoring our heath care workers. Its inhabitants longing for a purpose, even if that purpose is just to feel a little less alone,” Lori Prince, a Manhattan resident who has lived in the city for nearly three decades, said. “My heart soars when I see people waving from rooftops or playing their trumpet out the window. In this time of uncertainty, it is comforting to know that every night at 7 p.m. I can be certain my neighbor upstairs will be hitting a cowbell and smiling.”

Watch the video to see the “Capital of the World” coming together in action. https://youtu.be/nnUgqpzzWps