How is new York city for covid-19? Heard the restrictions are harsh and it's a ghost town. Is that true? ?

No, it's not true. I was there at the end of September and only about half of the people I encountered were wearing masks. Central Park was crowded, there were hundreds of people at Washington Square Park ranging from police (not wearing masks), NYU students eating dinner on the lawn, street performers and musicians. Times Square was full of street performers break dancing, people walking everywhere.

All of the dining was strictly outdoors only, I didn't find any indoor eats. When I arrived in NYC and checked into my hotel my cell phone number was taken down and I filled out a COVID testimonial asking about fever and international travel. The state of New York kept my phone number on record and texted me several times asking me to self quarantine upon leaving etc.

It was business as usual with half the people wearing masks and outdoor eating being the main differences than past visits.

Can't speak for other areas of the city though.

There are a couple COVID hotspots in Brooklyn and Queens, but most of the city has a very low infection rate.  Staten Island's newspaper carries daily totals for that borough, and they generally run 20 to 45/day, with an average of one death/week.  As for ghost town, I just came back from shopping.  The parking lot was packed, and I gave up on my next stop to buy lunch the line was so long.  Too many Halloween ghosts?

It's a city of 9 million people........if you think it can *ever* be a ghost town, then you've never been to NYC. 

True......theaters are closed,  and with travel restrictions, obviously tourism is way down.............but that doesn't mean EMPTY and far from a ghost town. 

Not really.  Compared to how New York usually is, it's a ghost town.  Compared to almost anywhere else in the U.S., it's not.  And the COVID rate, while initially high, is now lower than in many "red" (conservative) states.

No, it's not.  While it was mostly shut down in April and May, and there are still restrictions on how many people can dine indoors in the restaurant, and the theaters are still closed, New York City is anything but a ghost town, as you can see from the Times Square Live cam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSFAIEOeIpE

The measures taken New York last spring and the careful, staged opening of the state has prevented what is happening now in states like Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota, where wearing a mask is considered treasonous, despite the infection rates going through the roof.