Empire State Building Coronavirus Tribute Rang a False Alarm, Fallon Jokes

Best of Late Night Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If you’re interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox. New York City has been hit hard by Covid-19, with more than 1,550 coronavirus-related deaths as of Tuesday. “Recently, it has gone from the city that never sleeps to the city that lays awake every night filled with existential dread,” Trevor Noah joked on Tuesday night’s “The Daily Social Distancing Show.

” This week, the Navy sent in a U. S. hospital ship, the Comfort, to dock in New York and help handle patients. Beginning Monday night, the city paid tribute to emergency workers by lighting the Empire State Building red and white, flashing like an ambulance beacon.

“Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the crisis it’s that you definitely want to be on a giant ship. ” — JIMMY FALLON “It has 1,000 hospital beds on-site, which New Yorkers are so excited about. So excited that yesterday a crowd gathered to welcome the boat to the city, which is obviously extremely counterproductive in social distancing land, but it also shows you how much New York has changed. Yeah, because normally we hate it when people show up to the city.

Like a month ago, New Yorkers would have gathered to throw rats at that boat: ‘Your mother says hello! ’” — TREVOR NOAH “Last night, the building lit up like a siren to honor the medical workers serving on the front line of the epidemic. This might be a good idea when they first pitched it, but as someone who lives in New York, it was terrifying.

“The Empire State Building, the giant light flashing around — and can you imagine if someone was high in their living room?”

They must have freaked out. ‘[Expletive], dude! I think we’re getting pulled over by that building! ’” — TREVOR NOAH “Yep, everyone was confused by the red and white flashing lights.