The period between March and June of 2020 will never be forgotten by New Yorkers and other Americans. The horrendous Covid-19 pandemic, that affected much more severely poor communities, was followed by massive Black Lives Matter protests against racial targeting by the police, some leading to violence and looting in upmarket shopping areas. The overall message was crystal clear: Injustice is the real American plague.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed New Yorkers lives, killing many thousands of people and destroying millions of jobs and livelihoods. The streets were empty, the hospitals saw chaos and the morgues overflowed.

These terrifying three months have had a horrible human toll, exacerbating the already vast inequalities of American society. It is no coincidence that African Americans and Latinos were by far the primary victims of the pandemic. They have the most precarious and physical jobs. They can't afford to telework, they cannot isolate at crowded apartments in weak areas, and they often have little or no health coverage so avoid expensive hospitals as long as possible.

The result was predictable, much higher rates of infection and death in Queens, Bronx and some parts of Brooklyn.

The ground was fertile for a social explosion, and the detonator was the horrible killing of George Floyd, for no real reason and in plain view of the cameras.

Protests erupted in New York and all over America and beyond. Although the protesters chanted “Black Lives Matter” and complained bitterly about police brutality, the underlying rage also has a lot to do with the huge social injustices of society with lots of poverty amid plenty, to a large extent the result of racial discrimination and migrants disadvantages, with the end of the founding American Myth, where hard work was supposed to be rewarded, where parents efforts were supposed to lead to upward social mobility for their children, where the famed melting pot was expected to reduce racial differences.

Some of the protests escalated, leading to violence and looting of hundreds of shops in Fifth Avenue, Soho, Madison Avenue and other chic areas.

Overnight, New York became a ghost town of empty streets, boarded up shops and enhanced private security and Guardian Angels patrols. While the President repeated slogans of "Law and Order", many owners feared for their property and even for their lives. Of course, there was looting in less affluent areas as well.

Still, it is no coincidence that the rage was focused on the very symbols of American wealth that have become totally out of reach for an ever-growing share of American people.

The social escalator is broken, economic inequalities and racial injustices keep growing and, with them, the American Dream is dying. One can only hope that these massive protests can the beginning of a more just and compassionate society, otherwise they will not be the last ones.