The coronavirus crisis is forcing artists and entertainers across the city to be even more creative to connect with their fellow New Yorkers.

For instance, instead of bringing her mobile art gallery, the Blue Bus Project, to underserved neighborhoods, Annalisa Ladicicco is driving her message around the city, literally.

"I started writing those messages," she explained. "Stay home, stop the spread, save lives, but people walking in the park didn't really want to be lectured."

So Ladicicco changed the message to phrases like, "Socially distant, spiritually connected," and people's reaction changed with it. 

"I had to bring more positivity to the people," said Ladicicco. “’Stand strong, New York,’ really encourages people. They feel related to it, they're all cheering even."

Ladicicco plans to continue with new messages, bringing them to as many neighborhoods as possible.

Another artist, but one in a very different medium, Andrew Werner, went from nonstop gigs photographing celebrities and events to an empty calendar. It gave him an opportunity to return to his first love, photojournalism, and he's making the most of the empty streets.

"Carnegie hall, you walk past and you expect to hear music and there's nothing,” Werner said.

He's calling his most recent series “Places Without Faces,” but he also said that the desolate streets do take an emotional toll on him. "I could never conceive of seeing this in my lifetime." Adding, "I'm doing this honor of the people of New York to show what we can be and what we are. How we can be strong like the building that still stand."

Lastly, funnyman Gilbert Gottfried still knows how to get a laugh, even while locked down with his wife Dara and their kids Lilly and Max. On a more serious note, though, he posted an Instagram tribute to medical workers recently. 

"I want to thank the doctors and nurses on the frontlines who are risking their lives to save others,” he said during it. "People throw around the word ‘heroes’,” Gottfried added. "But people in the medical profession right now really are."

Lilly also posted the video to TikTok, which was news to Gottfried. "I don't think he knew about it. I didn't tell him about it," she admitted. "I started a TikTok for my dad and it's kind of fun."

"Meanwhile my agents haven’t done a damn thing," remarked the comedian.

When asked about his Twitter, account Gottfried expressed what many people are feeling.

"I haven’t tweeted out any jokes, but if ever there was a need to laugh, it's now."

For a laugh of your own, you can check out Gilbert Gottfried on his podcasts, on instagram and and now TikTok.