Wednesday, December 23, 2020 - Postcards from New York: Eighth Avenue (between West 34th & 35th).

Sunday, December 6th, 2020 was clear and bright, and on an impulse that morning I went walking down Eighth Avenue. I didn’t have a destination in mind; though I thought I might end up at the Strand. Ten months into Manhattan’s pandemic rhythm, I was still struck by the quiet of the streets here. Though more and more, I’m forgetting what this place felt like before this past March. I was drawn to this view because the buildings in the distance felt so far away; as though even crossing the street wouldn’t bring them any closer –––– they were too high up there; they were too close to the sky. I imagined the views from the windows facing Eighth Avenue; what the people who looked out at the city form inside those rooms and hallways and stairwells might see and feel. A city already at rest ––– sleeping in, and sleeping even more soundly on a quiet and sunny Sunday morning.