We asked New Yorkers if they still believe in their city.
HERE’S WHAT THEY SAID
Living through the quarantine in NYC has made me believe in this city even more. I am consistently awed and amazed by how resilient and innovative New Yorkers are.
— MK, Brooklyn
NYC has dozens of strengths like great arts, great culture, great diversity. Maybe we are on pause for now, but these strengths haven't gone away or been replaced. When we fully reopen we will go right back to being one of the great cities in the world.
— Tony, Brooklyn
This is my home. The people and communities I care about are here. What we went through together made us closer & stronger. There is no other place I would choose.
— Flora, Queens
The heart of NYC is that it turns constraints into community, commerce, art, activism and more. Those are the things that make New York the place we want to live and visit. Throughout the pandemic, we've seen signs of the city's eight million people adapting in new ways that will undergird our unknown future. So to me, it's not that NYC needs us to believe. Instead, we just need to look around!
— Sarah, Brooklyn
I still believe in OUR city. I still believe in the power of the people who live here to determine its direction. I still believe in our ability to create a community where we are all liberated and where justice and equity are things we experience every day. I believe that this is possible because I see so many New Yorkers working to create this reality every day.
— Brittny, Brooklyn
This city rose to the challenge. Times are still tough but we’ll get through.
— Anonymous, Bronx
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
— Anonymous, Staten Island
Even if this city falls to pieces, you’ll have to drag me out in my last pair of heels.
— Anonymous, Manhattan
New Yorkers will rise to any challenge. It was true after the great depression, WWII, 9/11, and it is true in the age of Covid: we never give up. New York has been hit hard, but it has in its people a force and a spirit that will lead us to thrive as one of the most storied cities on earth.
— Yazmany, Manhattan
This site is part of the “I Still Believe in Our City” art series by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya created in partnership with the NYC Commission on Human Rights.