"I could starve to death because I don't know how to cook"

In fact, the city he was once mayor of has been far from empty, and many, like Giuliani, went out to dinner and bars and cafes over the weekend despite the urging of public health professionals. That is set to change on Tuesday, after Bill de Blasio, the current mayor, ordered all restaurants to switch to delivery or take-out only as New York implements a series of measures to try to keep people at home.

Giuliani doesn’t know what he’s going to do. “One of my good friends pointed out to me I could starve to death because I don’t know how to cook,” he said. “Could you put out an advertisement for a cook — for a nice man, eats reasonably, not picky.” Surely he could make …. something. “I’ve been trying to learn — I’m a couple of days behind. Some guy was gonna show me how to make pasta. I could probably do it by instinct.”

At 75, Giuliani is in the range of people for which the coronavirus could be very serious if caught. But, reached by phone on Monday, he said he was feeling fine and was in an unusually chipper mood.