The Un-United States

What remarkable times we are living in. Just when I thought I’d figured out a way to survive COVID-19 and a lockdown, the city has been under an unprecedented curfew for the past week. All citizens have to be in their house by 8pm or face arrest. Yup – arrest. No, I’m not writing from some trouble spot in the middle east, but from the upper west side in Manhattan.

The entire country is undergoing major civil unrest. And for good reason. Watching the sickening 9 min video of George Floyd being murdered was the spark that lit the fire. Being in an interracial marriage has opened my eyes to what being white means in America verus someone of color. I’d been shielded from this living in Ireland, which at that time was almost 99% homogenous. (check out my two little films below)

On Monday evening around 7pm, I was taking a run towards midtown. As I hit 5th Avenue, I halted in my tracks. Stunned to see blocks on end, all boarded up. NYC had gone from ghost town to war zone in the blink of an eye. As I ran through, taking pictures, the odd store was scrambling to finish getting their windows protected. It seemed like every carpenter in town had been called out tonight. But what stuck me even more was the dense air of menace that permeated the air. The heavy police presence and the odd gaggle of loitering people. Just waiting. For the sun to go down. When I got home, I told my my wife the shit is going to hit the fan. And sure enough, Monday night’s riots and destruction made worldwide news and shocked a nation. See the 2nd video below that I made, the music accurately reflects how I felt as I ran through. Revolution was in the air.

Night 5 of NYC protests. Here’s a tribute to the protestors

Five days later and NYC was still under a curfew order. Thankfully, the rioting has been replaced by mainly peaceful protests. Even a NYC healthy disregard for breaking the curfew. On my way home from a run on Friday night, I stumbled into this protest above in my hood on the upper westside. It had an electric air to it and a very heavy military like police presence. But it was peaceful.

On Day 7, Sunday – Mayor De Blasio lifted the curfew.

NYC’s First Night of Curfew. An hour before all hell breaks loose.

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