Hey, there! Log in / Register

The empty city

Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on March 24, 2020

An empty Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on March 24, 2020, by Liz Lemongrab.

Three years ago, the streets, trains and parks of the Boston area were largely empty, as people stayed home as the pandemic exploded. Photographers across the region, though, did venture out to chronicle the newly formed voids.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 
Free tagging: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

These amazing photos speak to the numerous losses we sustained on so many levels in part due to government ineptitude.

up
Voting closed 0

or a global pandemic?

up
Voting closed 0

.

up
Voting closed 0

See adamg’s comment below.

up
Voting closed 0

for not immediately knowing how to handle a global pandemic the likes of which no one had seen in living memory.

up
Voting closed 0

https://vimeo.com/406903571

Dead plants and calendars frozen in March 2020 all the way down.

up
Voting closed 0

Just a brutal months long indoor stretch for kids and adults.

up
Voting closed 0

Back in the early days, nobody knew just how easily it spread.

And in any case, people didn't just stay inside, even if they couldn't go to playgrounds.

At least around here, there were a fair number of sort of kiddie bingo trails organized, where kids and their parents could walk around their neighborhood looking for pictures of things posted in people's windows.

up
Voting closed 1

But some of the components of the government response made no sense, even at the time.

  • Government-imposed curfews, mandatory or advisory. Do communicable diseases (apart from STDs, perhaps) really spread more readily at night?
  • Outdoor mask mandates. There was never any evidence of a non-negligible risk of transmission outdoors, except maybe in large, close gatherings. Add to that the wholesale closing of outdoor spaces without allowing the option of using facilities in a distanced manner.
  • Allowing liquor stores to stay open while forcing churches to close.
  • Returning Covid patients to nursing facilities chock-full of vulnerable people.
up
Voting closed 0

Allowing liquor stores to stay open while forcing churches to close.

This is because alcohol withdrawal is actually really serious and can kill people. Meanwhile, nobody is physically dependent on going to church.

up
Voting closed 1

I'm a church going teatotaler, but even I know that alcohol can be physically addictive to some. Not all, but for those that deep, it's a bad scene.

up
Voting closed 1

Weren't going due to risk of alcohol withdrawal. Rather, it was more about preventing an insurrection long before January 6, 2021.

up
Voting closed 1

Following your logic and considering that fact that 1/6 did happen, wouldn't the folly be found in relaxing the restrictions too soon?

up
Voting closed 0

They tend to get right on top of each other.

up
Voting closed 0

IMAGE(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EUeFbYUucXo/maxresdefault.jpg)

up
Voting closed 0

of downtown crossing. I got off the Red Line and walked through the deserted concourse (that reeks of urine) that runs along underground where Filene's Basement used to be. I then walked down Washington Street to State Street and saw maybe 10 people at most, many of whom appear to be living on the street. Downtown Crossing at rush hour on a weekday looks sadly similar to the photos you posted from the Covid lockdowns. This state of affairs isn't good for the city or society and I hope we can figure out the path forward sooner rather than later.

up
Voting closed 0

About once a month I had to venture to my company's office to handle the mail/payments and I remember biking in during the early months of the pandemic and feeling like I was in "I Am Legend" or "38 Days Later" or something.

Everything more quiet than usual and definitely far fewer cars.

up
Voting closed 0