The inspiration of this photo composition comes from Lamentations 1 since as they were relevant to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, they are strikingly relevant to New York City of 2020, viewed by many as the “capital of the world.” In the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, NYC has seen eerily empty streets, and scarce few visitors from the outside. Her businesses are shuttered and shut and cultural venues silenced. NYC has also been abandoned by many of her wealthiest who at the start of the pandemic, fled in fear. She has experienced empty shelves and been embraced by a new “Great Depression” and the consequent reality that things of value during the pre-COVID-19 era matter little today with some trading material goods for scarce necessities. Last, in her greatest time of need, NYC has been abandoned by the federal government and denied essential funding for hospitals and overtime costs, and resources such as sufficient quantities of test kits for prompt tests for all.

Lamentations 1:
[1] How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!
[2] Bitterly she weeps… tears are on her cheeks… [T]here is no one to comfort her.
[4] All her gateways are desolate… her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.
[6] All the splendor has departed… Her princes… in weakness they have fled…
[7] When her people fell… there was no one to help her.
[11] …her people groan as they search for bread; they barter their treasures for food to keep themselves alive.
[20] I am in torment within… inside, there is only death.
[22] My groans are many and my heart is faint.

Fortunately NYC and the world will not remain mired in this hellish pandemic forever since we are reminded in Lamentations 3:57-58: You came near when I called to You, and You said, “Do not fear!” You… took up my case; you redeemed my life! And yes, so as declared in Psalm 104:30 – “You send forth Your spirit… and renew the face of the Earth” we can be assured – “Mourning will be turned into joy!” [Jeremiah 31:13] as the COVID-19 pandemic is “swept away… like the morning mist” [Isaiah 44:22] such that “Times of refreshing may [yet] come [again].” [Acts 3:19]

Note: Created May 17, 2020 from photographs taken at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY (May 7, 2012) and Rockefeller Center Observation Deck, New York, NY (December 23, 2016).

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

NYS Re-opening Metrics: forward.ny.gov/regional-monitoring-dashboard