New museum exhibition highlights how New Yorkers coped with the pandemic

A new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York explores how New Yorkers dealt with the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic through photographs, objects, videos, and works of art.

“New York Responds: The First Six Months” includes creative handmade masks, photos of mutual aid efforts, photos of essential workers, and even a pan used in the nightly 7 p.m. public salute to health care workers.

“History shows us that New York City always prevails despite challenges,” said Whitney Donhauser and Ronay Menschel, the respective director and president of Museum of the City of New York. “Now, as we lose out this unprecedented year, this exhibition highlights many of the powerful personal and public stories that unfolded. We thank the thousands of people who contributed to our open call and the NYC community as a whole for their support during this tumultuous time.”

After more than 20,000 nominations were submitted to the Museum’s open call, a community jury comprised of members from all walks of life made selections for the exhibit. To represent the vast quantity of contributions, the exhibition also includes a word cloud visualizing words from the thousands of nominated image captions.

The Museum of the City of New York is located at 1220 Fifth Ave. at 103rd Street. For more information call 212-534-1672.