Being stuck in a city due to lockdown can be dismal.  But when that city is New York City the lockdown may not seem all that bad. Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time in “the center of the universe” would have to agree that is one of the most buzzing places in the world.  As famous fiction prize winning author John Updike said: “The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.”

Photographer Mozes Victor Konig had gone to visit some friends in New York in between lockdowns and got “stuck” there for some time.  He decided to make the most of it.  In the evenings he would go out when the streets were empty (so as not to inadvertently see anyone outside of his bubble) and snap pictures of New York city in lockdown.

“What I found,” recalls Konig, “was that New York’s allure is the people and activity.  During lockdown you get to see the nuts and bolts of the place.  Really it’s extremely ugly.  Well, not exactly ugly but certainly not pretty and archaeologically there is nothing to get excited about.”

“Once lockdown ended, I ventured out a little more – still socially distancing and avoiding crowds. And that’s when I saw the New York I had fallen in love with on my first visit more than two decades ago.   That’s when the spirit of NYC came back to life for me.  And it was then that I concluded that New York is not its city, it is its action.”

New York is known as “the city that never sleeps.”  Well, what happens when people don’t sleep?  They look tired and worn out and not that attractive.  The same with the city.  But as Konig witnessed, when it is locked down and no one is out, it doesn’t have any of its traditional character, just a city like all others…

Let’s hope that New York soon gets back to its original buzzing character and good health returns to all!

New York’s tourism board recently reported that they are looking for volunteers to scout out the state’s most colorful and vivacious foliage.

After the long winter and summer months, and with the almost urgent need to safely escape the confines of pandemic imposed lockdown, New York State is offering foliage-infatuated residents a great opportunity: an official voluntary position as a I LOVE NY Leaf Peeper.

Only full time New York state and city dwellers can apply. Volunteers must commit to to tracking leafy areas from September to mid-November. The position also requires the submission of weekly detailed foliage reports that include location, percentage of leaves expected to change within the coming days, and vivid color descriptions.

Contributions made by Leaf Peepers are collated and included in  I LOVE NY Fall Foliage Report, the official state and city guides on the best autumn foliage spots. Leaf Peepers are also featured on the tourism board’s website and have their photos shared on related social media platforms.