New York City is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. With a population of more than 8 million and more than 38,000 confirmed cases, officials and medical workers have been working around the clock to contain the spread and treat the sick. It's a state of panic and emergency in the city that never sleeps, and to reflect this, someone had the genius idea of turning the lights in the Empire States Building a dark shade of red.

The @EmpireStateBldg reminding us that the city is in the middle of an emergency. pic.twitter.com/50TjEjOogN

— Rita J. King (@RitaJKing) March 31, 2020

The look of the light has an uncomfortable dystopian vibe to it, like a beacon of pure evil found in the fantasy and science fiction that people turn to for comfort in trying times. Many don't find this reminder from the city's most iconic building all too helpful. The skyscraper's new look has been compared to the urban hellscape from Blade Runner to the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings to just a bad pitch in a Zoom meeting. Check out some of the best reactions below:

this is one of those things that I bet sounded cool in a zoom meeting but is absolutely terrifying in execution https://t.co/WPOvd9nUBl

— chris person (@Papapishu) March 31, 2020

nothing calms the nerves like the eye of sauron https://t.co/kEj5TH7m00

— tc (@chillmage) March 31, 2020

A new life awaits you in the offworld colonies https://t.co/DsMhIHqWgQ

— Rafi Schwartz (@TheJewishDream) March 31, 2020

Yikes. That's going in the novel. https://t.co/nBe8JA7aYo

— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) March 31, 2020

you know when they've turned the Empire State Building, that great obelisk of industry and capital, into a grand klaxon flashing "red alert" into the abyssal night of futures, a beacon of panic at the heart of the imperial city--you know global capitalism is in supreme crisis https://t.co/KEFNfSdJ2Z

— logan a. kirkland (@LericDax) March 31, 2020

I ain't even know the Empire State Building could do that… https://t.co/ZSCH3pC5yp

— brandon / jinx / big jinx (@brandonjinx) March 31, 2020

Hey, @EmpireStateBldg, the thought is terrific, but this is really anxiety-inducing https://t.co/E9VJuHlHSD

— Joel Siegel (@joelmsiegel) March 31, 2020

Dystopia https://t.co/fZSzTbcg2e

— Skepticᵀᴹ (@ArmouredSkeptic) March 31, 2020