Jim McIsaac/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Jerry Seinfeld, whose eponymous sitcom dealt in large part with the minutia of life in his adoptive home of New York City, has written a New York Times op-ed in response to a comedy club owner who recently declared the city “dead forever.”

James Altucher, owner of the venue Stand Up New York, wrote a piece for The New York Post, published last week, in which he detailed the very real flight from the city amid skyrocketing crime rates, remote work opportunities, and the loss of the city’s cultural hubs like Broadway because of COVID-19. Altucher himself moved out of the city recently. 

But Seinfeld wasn’t having it. “[T]his is one of the toughest times we’ve had in quite a while,” the Long Island, New York native admitted in his published response. “But one thing I know for sure: The last thing we need in the thick of so many challenges is some putz on LinkedIn wailing and whimpering, ‘Everyone’s gone! I want 2019 back!’

Jerry said of Altucher’s list of things about that city he claims are now gone, “Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.”

Seinfeld continued, “You found a place in Florida? Fine. We know the sharp focus and restless, resilient creative spirit that Florida is all about. You think Rome is going away too? London? Tokyo? The East Village? They’re not. They change. They mutate. They re-form. Because greatness is rare. And the true greatness that is New York City is beyond rare.”

“This stupid virus will give up eventually. The same way you have,” Jerry declares.  “We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you. And it will sure as hell be back.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.