A very lonely stroll

City may be closed, but hearts are open

Posted Sunday, April 12, 2020 12:05 am

A woman stands near the bus stop at West 231st Street and Kingsbridge Avenue, captured by photographer Frida Sterenberg, who has been documenting her neighborhood in the midst of the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

Frida Sterenberg photographed a smattering of people enjoying Ewen Park during a walk around the neighborhood. In the weeks since the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Sterenberg has documented how her neighborhood has adapted to the new normal.

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

A commuter with a face mask disembarks from a Bx10 bus while another commuter waits on the street. It was a sign of life continuing for Frida Sterenberg, who has photographed how her neighborhood has changed as a result of the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

A park-goer sits on the grass in Ewen Park, one of many tranquil scenes Frida Sterenberg has photographed in the weeks since the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

Frida Sterenberg photographed an MTA worker sitting on a stoop outside the Episcopal Church of the Mediator during a walk around the neighborhood, which is part of an ongoing project about how the area has changed as a result of the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

Flowers soak in the sun’s rays in the midst of a citywide shutdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which Frida Sterenberg has taken as a sign of hope when everything else is so uncertain. She has photographed how her neighborhood has changed as a result of the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

Signs inform passersby that the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Broadway is open for to-go orders. The partially closed business is a familiar sight in the weeks since the state’s shutdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which Frida Sternberg captured for her project documenting the new normal.

Courtesy of Frida Sterenberg

By JULIUS CONSTANTINE MOTAL

The northwest Bronx was never supposed to be this quiet.

With barren thoroughfares and shuttered storefronts, this neck of the woods is not its usual self. It’s a sobering reality reflected citywide as a result of city- and state-level decisions in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The mood is strange,” said Frida Sterenberg, a photographer and Riverdale resident for the last two years.

On the occasions she has gone outside — whether to get supplies or a much-needed breath of fresh air — Sterenberg has seen a significant shift in the fabric of life around her, and to that end, she’s taken her camera with her.

A graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and a former photo intern for The Riverdale Press, Sterenberg has focused her eye on her immediate surroundings.

“I’m trying to pay attention to take this opportunity to do my own documentary of our experience,” she said.

Despite everything, Sterenberg feels beauty can still be found both in the lush natural landscapes and the socially distanced interactions between people.

“There is some wave of willingness to be kind,” Sterenberg said, “even if it’s just saying hi or waving at a distance.”

The city’s shutdown has also created a looser sense of time. The days blur together. Sterenberg remembers going out on a recent Thursday at lunchtime, but it could have been any day.

“It felt like Sunday at 7 a.m.,” she said. “It’s empty. It’s quiet. Few people walking around.”

The rapid deceleration of the pace of city life has engendered a renewed appreciation for the quotidian that wasn’t always present before this crisis.

“It seems that you rarely have the time to appreciate so much,” Sterenberg said of life before the pandemic.

What she also has found is a willingness in people to be photographed. Taking pictures in a public space can evoke a range of reactions, from complete indifference to rage. In her perambulations around the neighborhood, Sterenberg saw a surprising openness.

“There is a certain sense that people are understanding this is a special circumstance,” Sterenberg said. “I think perhaps because the situation is so drastic, so worrisome, so radically tragic, that people are less concerned.”

Her photographs paint a portrait of a community struggling under the weight of social distancing and other necessary public health measures. Before the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 took hold here, there was a steady rhythm to life — the afternoon school pickup rush, the hustle and bustle on West 231st Street and Broadway, sunny afternoons in Van Cortlandt Park and elsewhere.

Now, much of what makes this part of the borough thrive are now closed, and while there is a gloomy and eerie aspect to that, Sterenberg’s pictures tell a slightly different story. A woman sits on a park bench. Another waits for the bus. Flowers bloom.

Life moves on.

“The beauty of springtime and the birds, that’s what’s giving me hope at the moment,” Sterenberg said. “It’s good to remember that the planet is still moving.”

Keywords

Frida Sterenberg, Riverdale, Kingsbridge Heights, coronavirus, Julius Constantine Motal

Comments

Tweets by @riverdalepress

50 Years on the Job

Building relationships simply by repairing one kitchen at a time

Felix Lam has been the superintendent at 2465 Palisade Ave., in Spuyten Duyvil for 50 years. The 81-year-old has made his home — and career — at the eight-story co-op since he was a young man. And how does that make him feel? “I’m very happy about it,” Lam said.

Riverdale Press

City may be closed, but hearts are open

Keywords

Comments

Hebrew Home comes long way since Covid