bottledworder

It’s been hard to be in New York City for the past five years since Covid.

It was heartbreaking to see closed storefronts and restaurants, empty city streets and forlorn food carts.

For a long time, empty commuter trains during rush hour or empty subway cars in the evenings often echoed fresh personal loss of loved ones for many. Then it was job losses and missed classes and housing difficulties.

We did recover somewhat in the last two years or so but other worries, political and social, soon descended on folks like a dark cloud. People stopped socializing between or after work and many moved away temporarily. The emptiness was quite palpable in public spaces.

At different times since 2020, young people did come out on the streets for causes, covered or not covered in the American news media depending on what the cause was, or is, and ongoing.

The spirit of simple joy was gone for so long that I began wondering if it would ever come back.

Last week was hot and sunny but temperatures had cooled down from the heat advisory levels of the previous week so I took some pictures.

People are coming back! That was such a joy to see.

I walked around the city seemingly without direction in the late afternoon towards the end of the week. It seemed like the spirit of the city had returned.

There were lots of people sitting outdoors in the parks and restaurants in West Village and Greenwich Village. Many were walking their dogs. Washington Square Park was so full of energy. Skateboarders and street musicians were around. Older ladies were reading in the smaller parks while there was still light and there was lots of ice cream to be found in carts and in people’s hands.

In the Meatpacking district and Chelsea next to the river, people were sitting in the little artificial beaches and simply milling around or chatting with neighbors.

Closer to Penn Station, tourists had returned and so had the crowds in Times Square taking pictures with the costumed characters. The museum (Whitney Museum) was full of people too.

July 12th was Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun was supposed to align perfectly with Manhattan ‘s street grid, illuminating the streets perfectly.

Sadly, clouds covered the setting sun. Yet, I came away with the joy of the crowds that had gathered on 34th street.

I finally found a spot on a divider across the corner of 34th and Park at the feet of this huge statue (whom I privately thought of as Hanumanji). During the final moments when the sun was supposed to set, folks encroached on the road to look and cars honked and puzzled passers-by asked what the deal was.

Such was the end of one of the warm summer weeks in July.