One of the prestigious American universities, New York University, NYU, along with the entire city and state, found itself locked out and inaccessible for students, faculty and library staff since mid-March 2020. Restrictions imposed by the pandemic created an unanticipated stress on all systems of the large academic institution in the epicenter of the national outbreak. The article describes in brief the unique nature of the university and its library system, its global reach and associated established library practices. The focus of the article are the activities of KARMS, the cataloging department of the NYU Divisions of Libraries. It describes the way the cataloging department recalibrated its services to allay immediate crisis of the constituent communities in the middle of the final semester of an academic year. The article also details a number of long-term initiatives that received a much needed attention under the conditions of the so-called “distance working”. While the work of any cataloging department is intrinsically linked to physical objects, the article offers several examples of the projects that can be completed remotely.