Times Square - Christmas
I don't celebrate Christmas. In fact, the holiday season is often a part lonely, part boring time for me.
I think a lot about how my friends are celebrating with their families, opening gifts, having huge dinners. Meanwhile, for me, it's a mundane day.
On Christmas day, I woke up at 5 AM thinking "I wonder how still and empty Times Square is" and I felt the need to fulfill the answer to the question so I went out with my camera, a practice that I've been trying to make a habit. The train ride was silent, which is normal for NYC, but it was a lonely silence filled with people who were coming home from or going to work, going to be or not being able to be with their families. Times Square itself looked nothing like what I'm used to. The obnoxious noise, the bumping in crowds that give an intimacy with strangers you can only get in so many places was almost all gone. What's left? The lights of course, a few tourists taking selfies, cleaning crew, and people who appear to be struggling with poverty, or an absence of a home.
According to Coalition for the Homeless
"In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s."
"Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing."
"Black and Hispanic/Latinx New Yorkers are disproportionately affected by homelessness. "
What started as a curious exploration of the relationship between people and space turned into a point of reflection and perspective on privilege. Privileges that I have along with many others.
Many privileges are exposed through this exploration. This is clearly a failure in priority and care from this city that caters to new residents who have the funds to live a particular lifestyle but does far too little to help the people that are forcibly removed for that lifestyle to exist.
Stay informed