People act irrationally during crises and that manifests in hoarding perishable goods that they think won't be available if this pandemic continues. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. All the shelves are empty for napkins, toilet paper, paper towels, and Kleenex. I'm guessing that some of this behavior comes from immigrants who've experienced toilet paper shortages for a prolonged period of time in their native lands, like Venezuela.
New York is a mess because of the population density, all the high-rise buildings with crowded elevators, and the mass transit system - the subways. I don't think New Yorkers got the message to stay out of crowded elevators or the subway, so this bug has spread much faster and further than in other places.
I also think Governor Cuomo's ban on the sale of hydroxychloroquine outside of the hospital/clinical trial setting has contributed to the problem. If you take this drug early enough, as in France, you get far better outcomes. We have no statistics on how many of the 9500 + dead people were treated with hydroxychloroquine. When the stats do come out (and it'll probably be many months), I think we'll find out that very few of them got the treatment early, if at all.