ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — For owner Matthew Vercant, seeing the gaming portion of his Just Games Rochester shop closed is not easy.

Gaming, Vercant said, is one of the store’s most fun components.

“It’s one of the most exciting, interesting parts of the business. It’s a lot of fun for our staff. But we can’t do it right now,” said Vercant.

Unlike merchandise, the games and tables are still packed away. So, too, are many forms of recreation, like gyms and movie theaters, due to the pandemic.

Bowling alleys, a key component of the experience at Radio Social in Rochester, are still not open in New York.

“It’s about the need to emotionally connect with other people, having a safe place to do that in,” said Dan Morgenstern, Radio Social’s co-owner.

Rochester Fringe, scheduled for this September 15th through the 26th, will go virtual. Erica Fee, the festival’s organizer, felt it was important to keep things going for artists during dire times.

“We thought that during this time with all this going on, that the last thing we need is to have artists’ voices silenced,” said Fee. “So we wanted to figure out a way that theater and music and comedy and dance, et cetera et cetera, can go on.”