Upstate New York, so we could drive at a slow pace; other means of transport were still out of the question.
Inn at Lake Joseph
Forestburgh, NY
June 10th, 2020
Boarded Up
Just as the City was about to take its first cautious steps towards un-PAUSE, the tragic death of George Floyd on May 25th in Minneapolis under police custody, led to worldwide protests against police brutality and racism. All of New York City Boroughs took part and, while most of the demonstrations were peaceful, some became violent, with reports of shootings, lootings and vandalism. The City was placed under curfew starting at 11pm on June 1, which became even stricter the following day, starting at 8pm. The curfew ended on June 7 but the protests went on. Store windows would remain boarded up for much longer owing to fears of more unrest and financial hardship due to the pandemic – smaller retailers being the hardest-hit.
June 2nd, 2020
Manhattanites Happy To Be Alive
Learning to live with the pandemic, looking forward to Summer.
May 25th, 2020
PAUSing on Staten Island
Leaving Manhattan behind for the day, for an invigorating walk in the woods of High Rock Park, then on to Fort Wadsworth for its gorgeous views over the Verrazzano Bridge and, well…, Manhattan.
May 16th, 2020
During lockdown, Central Park was our lifeline to sanity
It is in times like these that we realise the importance of being close to Nature.
May 10th, 2020
Lockdown Streching (walking South, learning to speak French)
Greenwich Village to South Street Sea Port district via the World Trade Center.
They Were The Last Three by Gillie and Marc, 2019
Featuring the only remaining northern white rhinos in the world, Fatu, Najin, and Sudan in existence in 2018
May 2nd, 2020
Lockdown Stretching
In Central Park
April 25th, 2020
Lockdown Shenanigans
April 18th, 2020
Masked Up
New York was desperately sick and awfully scary but, every now and then, we had to leave our glass bubble and get out for some air. Masks were still not mandatory, CDC had just started recommending ‘cloth face coverings’, and we began brushing up on our sewing skills.
April 8th, 2020
PAUSE… Covid-time
Schools, restaurants, gyms were closed. There was a gradual lockdown until March 20, when all non-essential workers were ordered to stay at home, and the City went on PAUSE. Shut in our glass tower, we spied on the Port Authority traffic (significantly reduced, yet there were still buses running), communicated with signs on windows and a 3-minute clapping every evening at seven (to cheer the frontliners, but also a get-together of sorts, as if to reassure each other we weren’t alone), learned how to work on Zoom, a platform no-one had ever heard of pre-Covid, but was now quickly becoming our new workplace.
We got sick and very wary of the ways the virus could evolve, with only mild symptoms fortunately; I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so insecure, but then again, I’d never been sick with a potentially deadly virus and no access to a doctor, let alone testing, save for a phone call and daily updates by sms(!).
We got our hopes high with the arrival of USNS Comfort on March 30th, which was meant to alleviate the pressure from the City’s hospitals, only to depart exactly a month later having treated only 182 patients(!!).
All the while, we watched a ton of movies and TV series (”What We Do in the Shadows” was a highlight), tried to find disinfectant alcohol and wipes in vain, observed Amazon deliveries becoming a necessity and no longer a luxury, cooked a lot despite the loss of smell and taste which took about a month to return and even then not completely, because some things with strong aromas like lemons, onions or sandalwood now smell funny; turmeric and ginger became our new staples.
We witnessed the silence of empty streets the few times we had to work from the office (once no longer infectious) – and I mean really empty, as in people-playing-tennis-on-42nd-St.-&-Third-Avenue-at-nine-o’clock-in-the-morning empty; and I sported my new Covid-19 hairdo, which may or may not have triggered some stunned looks, but I’m still keeping it nonetheless.
Hell’s Kitchen Towers, NYC
March 15-31, 2020
The Humble Fabulist 