Corner of 6th Avenue and 16th Street, New York City
Mar 31, 2020, 11:10 AM
New York lockdown sound recorded by Bill Stevens.
"Last summer I composed a sound piece, part of which included the sounds from the corner of my apartment building on 16th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.
"As is typical in my neighborhood, there is a vast amount of noise which as a resident of New York, you tend to block out most of the time. On that particular day, as this was for a project, I felt very in tune to the sounds of my corner - the constant and continuous rush of traffic, the school next to my building at the end of the school day along with the constant depth of people rushing uptown, downtown or crosstown, as well as patrons of the neighborhood deli, coffee houses and diners.
"Today, New York City is under a Stay at Home directive. The schools have been closed city-wide. The diner can only take delivery orders or take out, no seating allowed. The coffee houses are closed and the deli is open, but not cooking meals. The first sound of my 60 second recording that I heard upon standing on the corner of 16th & 6th, was the sound of bird songs, which we tend to never hear. It was so quiet and quite amazing, beautiful.
"There comes a rush of traffic as the light changes, but that rush was maybe a handful of cars and trucks if that, returning once again to the silence of bird songs. The only time I ever heard my corner this quiet was the day after September 11th.
"On that day, there was no movement and a stunned silence as the people in my neighborhood walked in silent disbelief of what we had just witnessed. And on this date, New York finds itself once again as Ground Zero, the epicenter of the COVID-19 virus in the United States.
"I can say that as we shelter in we are concerned, certainly scared, wondering if we will ever again be in contact with the people that we live so close to on a daily basis. Will we ever feel comfortable again to go out to dinner, attend a concert or sporting event? But I can tell you this, this city does not give up, we will get through this and come out stronger and united on the other end. I also believe that we are being taught a lesson, that no country can exist on their own in isolation.
"We are a global community and it will take all of us coming together to defeat this, as it will take all of us to bring the economy back, but maybe this time an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy.
"Maybe, just maybe together we can look at protecting our planet for the common good. Is it possible to imagine that had we done these two things, this virus might not have come into being?"
Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds
"Last summer I composed a sound piece, part of which included the sounds from the corner of my apartment building on 16th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.
"As is typical in my neighborhood, there is a vast amount of noise which as a resident of New York, you tend to block out most of the time. On that particular day, as this was for a project, I felt very in tune to the sounds of my corner - the constant and continuous rush of traffic, the school next to my building at the end of the school day along with the constant depth of people rushing uptown, downtown or crosstown, as well as patrons of the neighborhood deli, coffee houses and diners.
"Today, New York City is under a Stay at Home directive. The schools have been closed city-wide. The diner can only take delivery orders or take out, no seating allowed. The coffee houses are closed and the deli is open, but not cooking meals. The first sound of my 60 second recording that I heard upon standing on the corner of 16th & 6th, was the sound of bird songs, which we tend to never hear. It was so quiet and quite amazing, beautiful.
"There comes a rush of traffic as the light changes, but that rush was maybe a handful of cars and trucks if that, returning once again to the silence of bird songs. The only time I ever heard my corner this quiet was the day after September 11th.
"On that day, there was no movement and a stunned silence as the people in my neighborhood walked in silent disbelief of what we had just witnessed. And on this date, New York finds itself once again as Ground Zero, the epicenter of the COVID-19 virus in the United States.
"I can say that as we shelter in we are concerned, certainly scared, wondering if we will ever again be in contact with the people that we live so close to on a daily basis. Will we ever feel comfortable again to go out to dinner, attend a concert or sporting event? But I can tell you this, this city does not give up, we will get through this and come out stronger and united on the other end. I also believe that we are being taught a lesson, that no country can exist on their own in isolation.
"We are a global community and it will take all of us coming together to defeat this, as it will take all of us to bring the economy back, but maybe this time an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy.
"Maybe, just maybe together we can look at protecting our planet for the common good. Is it possible to imagine that had we done these two things, this virus might not have come into being?"
Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds