Web dev meetups?

I was told that by going to meetups you can network, find connections, meet employers, etc. But I'm not seeing any meetups near me (NYC). All the popular meetup groups on meetup.com are essentially dead since the pandemic and the ones that aren't dead are online and only around 20 people are attending. I joined one of these online meetups (Reactjs meetup group) for around 30 minutes and it's (I assume) nothing like a real life one. No one's talking and it's just a guy explaining a mind-numbingly simple thing like it's rocket science.

Are meetups currently dead due to the pandemic? Should I wait until the pandemic is over?

My goal with the meetup was to meet other devs, share projets/skills and network and possibly meet employers. But that doesn't seem possible with these online groups.