From her apartment in Brooklyn, Ms Abigail Chan, a Singaporean who has lived in New York City for 21 years, has to place her conference calls - she is in the private equity business - on mute until sounds from the street fade.
For weeks now, the soundtrack of New York City has not been the roar of the traffic, nor the rattle and thunder of the tracks, nor the daily hubbub of the iconic economic engine and melting pot of almost 19 million people.
It has been the wail of sirens as ambulances race through empty streets.
"I get sirens all the time, day in, day out," she told The Straits Times.
Ms Chan, 43, would normally be travelling every month to all corners of the United States, but has been holed up in her apartment for over a month now as Covid-19 ravages the city.