STREETS OF ASTORIA (Life After The Pandemic)
Streets of Astoria is the first photography documentary project of our new photography series, “Life After The Pandemic.” Our goal is to explore various areas of New York: capturing the culture around it, as well as examine the effects of the of the pandemic.
Astoria, a neighborhood located in Queens, New York, has a long rich history that continues to evolve. Originally called Hallett’s Cove, Astoria was renamed after John Jacob Astor, one of the richest men in the United States at the time. During the 1920s, Astoria was home to Paramount Studios, a major movie production studios. Now, Astoria is a neighborhood that is a hotbed of international culture and dining—including a longstanding Greek presence and a Little Egypt. As you walk down the streets of Astoria, you’ll see a colorful mix of all nationalities. While it’s a relatively small neighborhood, you’ll find that you are never bored with what it has to offer.
Like any neighborhood, the culture is colored by the personalities who inhabit it. We had the chance to meet some of the people around the neighborhood and asked them their feelings on the post-pandemic world. This is what we found during our trip to Astoria.
“During the pandemic I’ve learned how precious life is. There are many unnecessary risks I used to take in life that I’m cautious about now, and that’s a great thing for me. A wise friend of mine once likened life to hitting a bucket of golf balls. When you’re starting out you’ re whacking the hell out of them, not thinking too much. But as you get to the bottom of the bucket, you take your time and truly savor each swing. I’m hopeful that god has given me a nice, full bucket of golf balls to hit and the pandemic has taught me to savor each as early as you can, as opposed to when you can see the bottom of the bucket. Life is precious and beautiful. Any day that you wake up in the morning is a blessing and it’s important to be thankful for the good ones and the bad ones all the same.” @alexandermessados
“My hopes for the pandemic after and everything for New York City is that it will all go back to the way it used to be, where kids could actually go outside, have fun, make friends and you know, play at a local park without having to worry about a mask.
Especially when the heat coming back out during summer, you know that's the most popular time of the year?
Kids love to go outside and during the pandemic you know it just cancelled all that out. Really hope for all the kids to be allowed to go back out and make friends. “
“My hopes for New York after the pandemic ends is I feel like as a city and as people living in the city we've made a lot of growth, growth in civil rights, and growth in who we believe is so important to have in our lives. So I'm just hoping that that we just keep on that momentum of growing and loving whoever we are and whoever we meet in our lives, so I'm just hoping that that positivity just radiates throughout the city after the pandemic ends.”
“The pandemic has forced people to see inside of themselves. I think the world is going to be better after that. After all the bad things that happened, I think the good things are going to happen. “
(On New York City )
“New York City is nice, it’s a beautiful city, it’s really, you know, life. The rhythm of the city is fantastic. That you don't see in Europe, for example, and in other countries. It’s the reason why I'm here actually. “
“I just hope that like entertainment comes back, we go to baseball games and everyone could be safe and healthy.”
Essay editor: @samantha.sklar