"Who Is Riding NYC's Sightseeing Buses During the Pandemic?" [Reported and photographed for Gothamist, 2021]
In pre-pandemic years, few locals paid much heed to the double decker buses packed with sightseers from across the globe that careened down 5th Avenue and up the West Side Highway. That changed in 2020. In late summer, when the buses were permitted to operate again, one leading tour bus company said most of the 8-10 riders typically perched on their upper decks were locals eager to see something, anything, eager to show their ravaged city some love.
They purchased $60 downtown tickets to watch the Empire State Building come into dramatic view on 34th Street; and uptown tickets to pass the Apollo Theater marquee almost at eye level. At 110th, they took in the historic La Hermosa Church and the Harlem Meer reflecting the cool afternoon light.
They booked Brooklyn tours to snap photos of Lower Manhattan’s spiky skyline from Furman Street, and for the fleeting, birds-eye view of Chinatown’s Forsyth market from atop the Manhattan Bridge.
When it became clear that there would be no Rockettes or Broadway, they booked seats on holiday buses where actors dressed as Santa Claus. From summer to Thanksgiving, from thirteen feet up, they bore witness to New York’s famously serendipitous side-street moments: umbrellas of exactly the same hue passing in a crosswalk; neighbors grilling in the median; pensive dogs and children framed in passing apartment windows.