STREETS OF BROOKLYN (Life After The Pandemic)

The Streets of Brooklyn Heights & DUMBO  is the second photography documentary project in our new 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 pandemic.

Brooklyn Heights is an upscale residential neighborhood located within New York City’s Brooklyn borough. Originally called Brooklyn Village, the neighborhood has a long and rich history that dates back to the Colonial Era.  It is considered New York’s first suburb. Brooklyn Heights was also the site of a major Civil War battle; and, prior to the Civil War, it was a base for the slavery abolition movement.

When walking down the modern streets of Brooklyn Heights, you’ll see a whole different story. Today, the neighborhood is known for its brownstone-lined streets, innovative restaurants, curated shops, and notable religious institutions.  Its vibrancy may even inspire you to explore various cultural institutions located within its borders such as the Brooklyn Historical Society and Heights Players, a playhouse poised to open its doors again in the post-pandemic world.

As you venture around Brooklyn Heights you might find yourself strolling down the Promenade.  Offering spectacular views of Downtown Manhattan across the East River, the Promenade is beloved by locals and tourists alike.  It’s the perfect place to sit down, chat, and delight in the beautiful quiet atmosphere of Brooklyn Heights.

Adjacent to Brooklyn Heights is DUMBO, a once-industrial neighborhood that has transformed into a hotspot for start-up businesses, restaurants, and boutiques.  DUMBO, which stands for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” is small but vibrant, nonetheless.  It is filled with beautiful historical architecture, cultural hotspots, and scenic river views.

On the border of both neighborhoods is the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge Park. This park offers visitors and locals breathtaking views of lower Manhattan’s scenic skyline and New York Harbor. It is here where you will find couples picnicking, parents with their young kids, young teenagers playing basketball, and elderly people enjoying a cup of tea as the breeze comes in off the East River.

 We had the chance to meet some of the people around these neighborhoods and asked them their feelings on the post-pandemic world. This is what we found during our trip to Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. 

“Well with this pandemic that's going on, I found that family and friends have become a lot closer and a lot more helpful. Of course, there's a mask on them, but we all still get around, we all try to get out, and it's done because we care for each other.” - Billy

“Well, it makes people happy and anything you can do to make people happy. All my cards are happy cards. I don't like to make anything that's, you know, about all the nonsense going on around the world and all that. So if I can make happy cards, it makes me happy, and it makes other people happy, and that's what it's all about, being happy.” - Billy

PANDEMIC SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

“It's just as good as a recorded lecture like you might as well just post and I'll watch it on my own time. Like I have a friend who's a fashion major and she's supposed to be learning how to be making clothes, and sewing and she bought all this stuff so she could do it at home. What they ended up doing for them is like basically what you would do in a dress up game like drag and drop and design it online and she’s like ““this is not what my degree says, I'm graduating with something completely different”” and she's not learning the skills that she needs.” -Anonymous NYC College of Technology Student 1

“Yeah, also for us I feel like I switched my major three times because I did education first then I did a music management and then I realized like oh wait, I like being hands on, I like creating, I like physically making things. So, it's like the whole point of me being in this program has been stripped and it's just I'm online, I'm writing papers, but I'm not really getting that hands on experience, which is the way that I learn better. So I feel like I'm not even getting the most of what I'm paying for. Not everyone learns the same, you know?” - Anonymous NYC College of Technology Student 2

“Yeah, like for me personally, I'm a visual learner. So today was our first like in person class and we were using the equipment finally but I feel like I missed out on so much because this last year of mine was supposed to be all of my important classes and I missed out on everything. Now, it’s my last semester and I'm about to graduate and I don't know how to do anything, so I feel like that really messed up with my mental health because I was already insecure as it is in the beginning now it's even worse now. I don't even like wanna bother applying because like who's gonna take me? I don't know how to do anything now” - Anonymous NYC College of Technology Student 3

 “When the pandemic began, I was nearly done with college, balancing just my senior thesis and my art.  I graduated in May 2020 and I released an EP, Not Every Garden Is Eden, in June.  My next endeavor was law school, where I would study with hopes of becoming a public interest lawyer.  Though all of the classes were online, I took advantage of the school’s housing arrangement and moved to Brooklyn Heights in August.  Things had opened up by the time I came back to the city, and I embraced the freedom that New York affords to someone like me, a Long Island native who can’t drive. 

In my exploration of mid-pandemic New York, I too explored myself.  Law school stole my inspiration and it was beginning to steal my disposition.  I decided in March to unenroll from school and, with the free time this decision enabled, I allowed myself to heal, bringing about a personal creative renaissance .  In the month since I’ve withdrawn, I’ve revisited my long in-the-works poetry collection, Very Few and Far Between, and I’ve begun an abstract series of paintings.  There was no time lost." - @samanthasklarart

“I had to move to Long Island in order to be able to survive and be out with my parents while I was jobless for three months and not getting unemployment.” - @Sibbity

“Honestly, I think something good that the pandemic brought about was getting people out and getting people to take things a bit slower because we're so used to like go-go-go, being on the move and being so like individualized. This actually was able to recognize how much we appreciate genuine human interaction as opposed to just getting somewhere, doing something, having like a specific goal in mind, so we should be more present with each other which I think is important. “ - @Sibbity

“You really want to look out and care for one another and provide and create a sense of community again when we can have that safely.  

I'm hoping the entertainment industry bounces back. It's like the heart of everything and I’m really excited to see what people have been working on in their craft.  New York is filled with dreamers and artist and I'm excited to see what everyone has been working on. “ - @Sibbity