On this Day from NYC Past: December 20

I have long let this once active blog wallow on the web, but a few weeks ago I came across many photos from the recent past. I found them to not only interest me personally for whatever nostalgic reason but possibly of use for insight into snippets of NYC history. They are artifacts of things past and objects of curiosity. I am surprised that many do not spur specific memories. I have no idea what I was thinking at the time I took the image.

One thing is clear. For years, I was involved in the life of the city and no longer that active. I have a good job in the city, but I am no longer a new girl in the city. I go about my business catching the subway to work, shopping for groceries, and collapsing into bed at night. I have blended into the crowd.

Since the beginning of the Covid epidemic in 2020, a year I began to consider myself semi-retired, I often venture into the forests of Inwood Hill Park near my apartment in Northern Manhattan to look at birds. These pictures reflect that shifting interest, city to nature, but I often long for the city of fading memory.

Leonard Cohen in concert at the Barclay Center. December 2012

Inwood Hill Park. December 20, 2013

Back of apartments near Isham Park. Inwood. December 20, 2013

NYC Pharmacy during the holidays. December 20, 2015

Pigeon lineup. December 20, 2020

Carolina Wren in Inwood Hill Park. December 20, 2023

Great Blue Heron and Metro-North Hudson line. December 20, 2023

Photos by Teri Tynes. This post is part of an ongoing project.

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