Quarantine Chronicles : New York Roof Culture
By Lamia Baladi
Since New York City went on lockdown on the 13th of March, New Yorkers are going against the essence of what makes them true New Yorkers. The Big Apple, celebrated for its bustling energy and renowned as the city that never sleeps, is now experiencing empty and quiet streets. The incessant noise has stopped. But New Yorkers are staying inside and avoiding filling up the parks and gardens in the love they have for their city, and in the hope to be able to crowd its public places again, hopefully sooner than later. In the meantime, New York rooftops are being crowded and used for all different kinds of activities. With that mandatory slowing down of pace comes incentive to explore new hobbies. What New Yorkers can no longer do in the streets, have been brought up to their rooftops. And Jeremy Cohen, Brooklyn-based photographer, is here to capture it all.
Perched in a high-rise building in Brooklyn, Cohen started witnessing a shift in the culture of roof activity in New York in the time of social distancing. People are taking the time to engage in all sorts of pastimes: from yoga, jump roping, setting up an office space on the roof to a woman painting and someone even flying a kite. ‘Every time I look out my window, I see new people doing new and different things’ he says. This strange time we are living in is pushing people to take the time to engage in new activities, to make and create, and reconnect with others. Cohen does not fail to put a smile on people’s face and bring positivity out of this situation - his instagram video asking a neighbor out in times of social distancing quickly became viral. In the modern-day equivalent of a message in a bottle, he flew a drone with his phone number to a girl on a neighboring rooftop, respecting the social-distancing guidelines.
New Yorkers are coming together for a better future, hoping to be reunited with the essence and fast-pace of New York, but learning from this time of slow-living and isolation, something that as New Yorkers we would have never experienced, to build a better New York.
Check out Jeremy Cohen’s instagram (@jermcohen)
