On the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Fire Department of New York held a service at the Firemens Memorial on Riverside Drive. The ceremony began with a reading of the names of the fallen firefighters, many with posthumous promotions. A silver fire bell rang after each name. After a benediction, the firefighters saluted and the Marine Corps Band and the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums played. Emotions have become less raw over the years since the terrorist attack, but the city’s respect and reverence for the firefighters has never diminished.
Listening to the roll call of the namesFirefighters lined many blocks of Riverside Drive at the memorial serviceThe FDNY Chaplain waiting to give the benedictionMembers of the Marine Corps Band, too young to remember 9/11One who remembers, struggling to contain his emotionsThe Marine Corps Band performed during the ceremonyThe FDNY Emerald Society played Amazing GraceThe salute to the fallen
During the pandemic, in 2020, many people were drawn to birds and birdwatching. Suddenly and with almost no warning we were torn from our families, our friends, our jobs, and all of our social and recreational activities. Aside from staying indoors, the only safe activity seemed to be visiting parks or other outdoor spaces, distant from other people. There, we could enjoy the sight and sounds of beautiful birds that seemed to possess all of the freedoms that we had lost.
Red-Tailed Hawk in Riverside Park, first bird photograph during lockdownA Barred Owl in Central Park, swiveling her head almost 180 degrees to preen the feathers on her back.A male Bufflehead emerging from a dive in the Central Park Reservoir A Snowy Owl on Jones Beach, Long IslandA Great Blue Heron, Rockefeller State Park Preserve, New YorkA Northern Cardinal eating seeds from a woman’s hand in Central ParkMale Northern Shoveler, Central ParkMale Wood Duck in breeding plumage, Central ParkMale Wood Duck, Central ParkMale Wood Duck, Central ParkTufted Titmouse eating from a woman’s hand on a snowy day, Central ParkA Dark-Eyed Junco on a snowy day in Central Park, feathers fluffed out to keep warmRed-Tailed Hawk with prey, Central ParkFemale Northern Cardinal in the snow, Central ParkGreat Blue Heron looking for fish in Central ParkEastern Meadowlark, Croton Point Park, New YorkFemale Red-Breasted Merganser, Central ParkMute Swan, Central ParkFemale Hooded Merganser, Central ParkMale Hooded Merganser, Central ParkBlack and White Warbler, Central ParkCape May Warbler, Central ParkBarn Swallow singing, Central ParkWhite-Breasted Nuthatch, Central ParkCedar Waxwings bathing, Central ParkBlack-Crowned Night Heron, Central ParkGreat Egret, Central ParkCedar Waxwing, Central ParkAmerican Oystercatcher, Fort Tilden Beach, NYFemale Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Fort Tryon Park, New York
May 29 on a rainy and chilly holiday weekend. A short walk on Broadway between 103rd and 97th Streets showed some of the lasting effects of the pandemic.
Leaving the subway at 103rd and Broadway.Mangoes for saleThe Mexican Festival Restaurant, a lively and popular restaurant and bar on the corner of Broadway and 102nd Street, permanently closed The Metro Diner on Broadway and 100th Street reopened and added an enclosed outdoor dining space. No one was sitting there in the rain.This convenience store on Broadway and 98th Street closed during the pandemic. On Election Day 2020 I photographed its shutter painted with “Vote Trump” in large letters. The storefront is still vacant six months later.
One year ago New York City looked and felt very different, but now in the middle of May change has started to take hold and hope is in the air. Here is a look back at the first five months of 2021.
January: A Snowy Owl came from the tundra to land on a baseball field in Central Park, where she was mobbed by angry crows and photographed by crowds of birders. Birds have been considered omens; this one was considered a celebrity.February: Snowfall, and a Tufted Titmouse eating peanuts from a woman’s hand in Central Park. During the pandemic birding became an enormously popular safe, outdoor activity. February: snowfall, and Central Park at its most picturesqueMarch: the museums cautiously reopen, with precautions. Masked people in the Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtApril: masked visitors at the Museum of Natural History April: outdoor meditationApril: young musicians from the Manhattan School of Music played jazz in Central ParkApril: people enjoying the parks again.April: flowering trees and a model in Central ParkMay: Street performers are out again. May: using the park as an open-air gymMay: cherry blossoms and a child who has grown up looking at people with covered facesMay: a glimpse of a normal, post-pandemic lifeMay: a trumpeter performing in Central ParkMay: Wrong way? People are confused about wearing masks, but the Centers for Disease Control has issued clear guidance. Vaccinated persons no longer need to wear masks outdoors or indoors. The difficult part is knowing who has been vaccinated.
The year we would all rather forget, the year from hell, the year of shock and loss and pain is nearing its end. With vaccines and a new president, change is in the air for 2021.
January 2020 started so peacefully with a summer-like day in Central Park.Â
The fourth annual Women’s March in January took place while impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump were underway.
As the coronavirus epidemic raged in Wuhan, China, the Chinese-American community expressed support. The pandemic still seemed far away in February during the Lunar New Year celebrations in Chinatown.
Columbia University students enjoying springlike weather on campus, February 23. The university shut down soon after this photo was taken.
April 14: a dollar store advertises cleaning products, masks, and hand sanitizer. All of these supplies were nearly impossible to find for weeks.
April 6: Finding solace in magnolia blossoms in Riverside Park during the lockdown. The city parks stayed open for respite and recreation.Â
May 9: Bicycles and scooters take over the streets as New Yorkers shun public transportation.
A beloved neighborhood diner on Broadway, closed during the pandemic.
June 14: A protester in Harlem. Daily protests against police violence toward Black Americans continued for months all over the city.Â
Street vendors selling masks on Broadway in June
June 18: A doorman on West End Avenue bangs a spoon on a pan during the daily salute to front line workers of the coronavirus pandemic.
July 4: Protesters marching from Columbus Circle to Trump Tower
July 12: Hedy, a Trump supporter, on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower before a demonstration.
People listening to a jazz trio in Central Park, September 27. With all concert venues closed, suddenly unemployed musicians took to the parks to earn money from donations.Â
A guest at an outdoor wedding on Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, October 11
When early voting in the presidential election began, New Yorkers waited up to 4 hours on the streets to vote. Amsterdam Avenue, October 30.
Jubilant crowds poured into the streets on the news of Joe Biden’s election victory, November 7, 2020.
A woman celebrating the election results on November 7, Broadway and 104th Street.
November 3, Election Day: A shuttered convenience store that closed after months of the pandemic, Broadway and 99th Street
December 22: Visiting the iconic Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was strictly limited this year. People were allowed to stand in front of the tree just long enough to take photos.
Everything is different this year, but the quintessential feature of Christmas in New York is still the tree in Rockefeller Center. Crowds were strictly limited, tourists were absent, but visitors still found joy at the beautiful sight.
The Lower East Side of Manhattan is usually a lively neighborhood of young people, bars, restaurants, street art, and shopping. Not in 2020 in the midst of a pandemic, not even on the last Sunday before Christmas. Rivington Street was bleak with most restaurants and storefronts closed and shuttered. In the spirit of the neighborhood, murals decorate the metal shutters. We need our government to support small businesses or all of the remaining restaurants will disappear.
Rivington Street without cars or pedestrians on a Sunday afternoonThe popular cocktail bar Verlaine NYC is closed due to pandemic restrictions on indoor dining.Economy Candy, in business since 1937 and barely hanging on, was the only store open on this block A permanently closed storefront on Rivington and Suffolk Street
The election is over, and with it the elation that erupted on the streets of New York. These two photos of stores on Broadway on the Upper West Side of New York were taken on the afternoon of Election Day. One shows a shuttered storefront of a business that closed permanently during the pandemic. The other survives, selling cleaning supplies, masks, and gloves that were impossible to find during the early months of the pandemic. Together, the two photographs show the challenges that lie ahead for the Biden administration in the coming months and years: control of Covid and repairing the economy.
Dueling messages on the shutter of a closed store on BroadwayA dollar store selling cleaning supplies, masks, gloves, and rubbing alcohol
DeborahShapiroPhotos 