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Unlike the Navarro team that made it back to NCA College Nationals this year after losing a year to the pandemic shut down, NYU’s team remains unable to compete.

“[NYU] mandated that any overnight travel over two days was completely declined and not allowed,” said Ciara Kalia-Taye Smith, Co-Captain and senior at NYU.“So that was the end of our preparation for nationals.”

 NYU Cheer was prepared for Nationals with their most competitive routine yet. When Autumn Kovach started as the volunteer head coach five years ago, the team was at 20 people, two of which could do handstands. Today, Kovach has grown it to a competitive program of 70 people and two teams. NYU Cheer had never before competed at the level they planned to this April, with four stunts in the highest difficulty and over half of the team throwing difficult tumbling skills.

“It’s extremely frustrating to know that in 2020, everyone was canceled,” said Kovach. “2021, there was a virtual option. That was really hard, because there were still schools going. This year, I think almost every single school, at least that I know of, is planning on going, so we are the only ones I know of who are not allowed.”

NCA Nationals is the team’s only competition of the year, taking place on April 6-10 of this year. NYU’s mandate is no overnight travel for more than two days for club sports only, not for varsity sports. NYU’s varsity sports include basketball, swimming, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, fencing, cross country, tennis, golf, track and field, while NYU’s club sports include cheerleading, badminton, cycling, dance team, equestrian, figure skating, ice hockey, judo, karate, kendo, lacrosse, latin and ballroom dance, rowing, running, sport taekwondo, squash, frisbee, table tennis, water polo, and ultimate frisbee. 

NYU 2021-2022 cheer team hitting their pyramid stunts at practice. Photo courtesy of Head Coach Autumn Kovach

“It definitely feels unfair especially because NYU as a collective is not a sports school,” said Smith. “We have varsity sports, but they’re D3. We put together a solid routine that could have placed high this season. It feels unfair because [varsity sports] are still practicing and competing right now. No one else can even use the gym.”

While some schools take their cheerleading program seriously, it is not officially recognized by the NCAA or the U.S. Federal Title IX guidelines as a sport. 

“I think Big 10 schools and a lot of state schools take the sport seriously despite how good or bad they may be,” said Smith. “Since the Netflix docu-series “Cheer” came out, I think people have opened their eyes more to cheerleading as a sport. We compete at the same competition as the teams on the show.”

Club sports haven’t only been restricted in the overnight travel mandate, they were also unable to use NYU gyms or practice until October, while varsity sports were able to begin practicing at the start of the semester.

“There’s two problems with [cheer becoming a varsity sport],” said Kovach. “One is that cheerleading is not accepted as a part of the title nine component, and that’s a supreme court decision from many years ago, so even if I bid at NYU for us to become a varsity sport, which is possible, I could see the school saying ‘you’re not a NCAA sanctioned sport,’ so most schools will not put cheerleading in their varsity sports category because of that reason.”

While the team is looking forward to next year, this was many students’ last chance to compete in their cheerleading career.

“It was the first time we actually had all the pieces to place with the really good teams,” said Smith. “This is my last year cheering, there’s nothing really for cheer post-college. It sucks that this is how I have to wrap up my year.”

Even without being able to compete, the team’s camaraderie and spirit is strong.

“Here in the city, the only people you really see are the ones in your classes,” said Isabel Solivan, a sophomore who joined the team her freshman year. “It’s nice to grow bonds and work together towards a common goal. Especially since Covid, it’s meant so much and made my NYU experience so much better.”

Despite the setbacks, the team plans to stay optimistic for NCA Nationals next year. With more members than they’ve ever had and both gameday and competitive teams, they plan on continuing to grow the program and develop even more difficult skills. 

“We’re planning on just pushing ahead,” said Kovach. “This year we wanted to add an advanced team, but because of the late start we couldn’t. Next year, I’d like to see us continue what we started – having the advanced program, an intermediate program, and the gameday program. Since this semester is no longer stressful for us, we can start learning advanced skills for next year, so I’m excited for that.”

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Goubet, 61, of Hoboken, New Jersey is a marathon coach who has run the marathon three times and been cheering on runners for over 15 years.

 “I’m always here supporting, because it’s always beautiful,” said Goubet. “I find people beautiful but when these runners give everything they are even more beautiful. They give their hearts… it’s about what they do for others when they are running.”

 Goubet explained that she and her French running group ran for her friend’s daughter who had a passion for running and passed away from brain cancer. Now, Imagine for Margo is a non-profit that exists to fight against childhood cancer.

 “Every year we raise money for her,” said Goubet. “Ninety point nine percent of the funds are going to child cancer research. This year we are close to $2 million.”

 Goubet turned back to the runners, spotting a man who she didn’t know limping.

 “Don’t give up, you’re so close! You’re so beautiful!” said Goubet, sticking with him shoulder to shoulder until he picked up his pace again.

 “I concentrate on four or five maximum people per year, and I take them from 5K to half marathon to full marathon,” said Goubet.

 Goubet cheered on partners she trained with, telling spectators their names before they ran past so the crowd could join in on chanting for them. She cheered for both friends and strangers like she’d coached them for years, getting into the street and running with them, screaming encouraging words.

 “I coach because I want to give something to people,” said Goubet. “I want to help them achieve their dream. For some people who have overcome sickness or injury, it’s so important for them to run again.”

 Goubet understands the impact of injury, having started to run only 20 years ago after breaking a vertebra in an equestrian injury as a teenager.

 “There’s always going to be something stopping someone,” said Goubet. “Look, there are some people who don’t have any legs here. You can always do something. You can always find a solution.”

 Goubet said that pain is inevitable, but not something that should disqualify people from running their race.

 “That’s part of life,” she said. “You don’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it. All ages are here today, all people can do it.”

 Goubet continued cheering as some of the first women raced past, teary eyed.

 “I think if people were running more, there would be less war,” said Goubet. “You see the ambiance here today? You hear screaming, you see people cheering, and you believe you can run.”

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 “I’m not trying to reintegrate, I’m too old,” said Robert Dunn, 89, of the Bronx. “I’m on the fringe. I mean, I go out to the store, and I come back. I don’t socialize very much.”

 Older adults continue to be one of the most at risk populations of becoming ill, hospitalized, or dying from Covid 19. In the U.S., adults 65 and older account for 16% of the population, but 80% of Covid deaths. As of October 4, 2021, there have been 34,284 total Covid deaths total in the city since the start of the pandemic. The majority have been 65 and older.

 “You can see that [the pandemic] wore on [the residents],” said Ivan Arvelo, 50, the manager at Cooper Square Senior Housing in NoHo. “A lot of them are still afraid, a lot of them are still a little passive. There’s a slow reintegration because a lot of people act like Covid isn’t even around anymore.”

 While some seniors find social connection within public places such as senior centers, group classes, or discounted movies, they said they’re uncomfortable re-engaging in these activities.

 “I don’t go into a Sears or any place where there are close people,” said Dunn, of the Bronx. “It’s a big nuisance. I mean, you feel restricted, and you’re not able to live normally.”

 Although 70% of seniors within the city are vaccinated, 28.5% of NYC residents are not.

 “Now, with the lifting of the restrictions, we still are very conscientious,” said Richard Muller, 74, of the East Village. “Even though we’re vaccinated, we wear masks. We don’t understand why people don’t get themselves vaccinated.”

 Muller said that he and his friends are fearful due to fear of transmission from those who are still unvaccinated.

 “I’d say that there’s a sort of a vigilance,” said Muller. “There’s a public concern that some people are not acting responsibly. We’re hopeful, but still cautious because we don’t want to get sick.” 

One in four older adults reported anxiety or depression since the start of the pandemic. Older adults are still recommended to follow current public health guidelines, limiting indoor and in-person social interactions, which contributed and still contributes to isolation among seniors.

“They were isolated for a long time,” said Arvelo. “I mean, isolation is no joke when you’re a senior, and I saw it first hand. They’re more vulnerable and scared that if something does happen to them, they’re the ones that will be impacted the most.”

 While getting out and being social is a problem for New York elders, connecting through technology continues to be challenging as well.

 “I am terrible with technology,” said Amy Weprin, 87, of East Village. “I only use the landline. I have a cell phone, but it stays off.”

 Dunn said that trying to connect through technology is not an option.

 “I don’t even know what [Zoom] is,” said Dunn. “Technology is out of the question. I don’t understand it, and I don’t even try.”

 Arvelo said that he doesn’t think NYC seniors will reintegrate into public life until local herd immunity exists.

 “I think until we get a local herd immunity, that’s when they’re going to really feel safe and start doing the same things they used to do all the time,” said Arvelo. “I think until we have herd immunity they’re not going to want to be around other people.”

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“It’s a very bad situation there,” said an Afghan American woman, 35, of Fresh Meadows, Queens who did not want to give her name because she feared retaliation. “All the people have no food, no money, the bank is closed.”

Over a month after the Taliban invaded Afghanistan, banks remain closed because they lost international aid. Seventy five percent of Afghanistan’s public spending is financed through international aid grants, according to the World Bank. Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, foreign currency and US-led international aid has been blocked. This has added to the collapse of Afghanistan’s financial infrastructure.

While Western Union was reported to resume money-transfer services to Afghanistan in the past month, the payout is only available mostly in Kabul, the epicentre of the takeover where locals are in hiding. One Afghan American woman has been able to send money to her family through an underground exchange market.

“I have to do it a really back, back, back way,” said Maryam Naziri, 33, of Austin, Texas. “There are these underground exchange markets where you send your money to an Afghan store, and then with a code your family will go and pick it up. I’ve been sending [money to] my grandmother, sometimes my aunt, because my young cousins are in hiding.”

The Taliban has killed those who resisted their rule in the streets, leaving civilians afraid to go outside.

 “All Afghan people are sad for our country” said the Afghan American woman of Fresh Meadows. “It’s not a good situation. Other countries aren’t coming for help.”

The Taliban are a predominantly Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist group, originally consisting of students trained in Islamic religious schools, that started to gain influence in the 1990’s after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, taking over the country from 1996 until the U.S. invasion in 2001. The mission of the Taliban was to restore a conservative interpretation of Sharia law. By 1998, the Taliban were in control of almost 90% of Afghanistan, enforcing harsh ruling that neglected social services, eliminated women from public life, employment, education, public executions of murderers and adulterers, amputations for those accused of theft, and banned music and television. 

Under the Taliban’s ruling, Afghanistan became a breeding ground and sanctuary for Islamic militants including Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and organizer of the 9/11 attacks, the largest terror attack ever conducted on U.S. soil. The attacks led to the U.S. launching of the Afghanistan war in October of 2001, making counter-terrorism the focus of foreign policy and beginning the longest war in the history of the United States, ending just two months ago, after a peace agreement was struck during the Trump administration with the Taliban in February of 2020 to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

 “The Taliban don’t really have a sense of governance,” said Dr. Bahar Jalali, Afghan historian and founder of the first Gender Studies program in Afghanistan. “This is not a group that knows about economic policy and fiscal policy… they haven’t thought about all these things.”

 For the past 20 years, after the Taliban was removed from power in 2001, Afghan women made valiant strides. They occupied schools, higher education, medicine, music, media, and their presence filled the streets. In 2018, the literacy rate for females in Afghanistan was at 30 percent, according to a recent UNESCO report. Now, women and girls haven’t been to school for over two weeks.

“We cannot go outside because of the threat to our lives,” said Fereshta Sediqi, 22, a student at Kabul University who is currently unable to attend. “I can no longer continue my education and my dreams have vanished. Our goals cannot be reached anymore.”

This photo is caught from video that was recorded by RAWA in Kabul using a hidden camera. It shows two Taliban from department of Amr bil Ma-roof (Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Taliban religious police) beating a woman in public because she has dared to remove her burqa in public. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Others in Afghanistan have had to change locations frequently, leaving them unable to work.

“My family has had to change location many times or stay in hiding in fear of losing their lives” said Nazari. 

Being in hiding without the ability to work and access banks or supermarkets has led to mass hunger issues. One in three people in Afghanistan are currently going hungry. That’s 14 million people, including 2 million children that are malnourished, with requests for food assistance rapidly increasing since August 15.

 “They [ate] three times a day, now they try to eat one time a day,” said the Afghan woman of Fresh Meadows. “They only eat bread, sugar, and tea.” 

Some Afghan Americans, like Nazari,  are fighting for their families to be evacuated  so they can restart their lives.  

“I’ve been working really hard to find a way to evacuate them, but I haven’t had any luck yet,” said Nazari. “I have sponsored them myself. I filled out a humanitarian [form] for them. I am praying that they will get accepted. I want the oppression to end with me in my family. We have paid our dues. We have been through so much.” 

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 “This is my first time coming on a Saturday and it happens to be after the… it’s really not after – we’re still in the pandemic, but I guess after mass vaccination, so I’m actually quite surprised to see how many people are here,” said Eric Johnson, 32, of Harlem  ”

 Johnson said he isn’t scared to be around a large group of people since he is vaccinated.

 “We’ve been risking it all for a while,” said Johnson. “I mean, you know, I’m not scared. I was vaccinated back in April. Nothing’s happened since then. I ride the trains. This is a little different for me though, I’ve never been in this type of crowd for quite some time, but I am hoping for the best. I think we’ll be alright.”

 Anna Delgado, 62, from Queens said she was a regular at the San Gennaro Feast. She also felt safe in the large group due to the vaccination rates in Little Italy. 

“Some people, they are aware of the pandemic,” said Delgago. “They use masks, but I think around 70 percent of the people over here, they already had the vaccination. That’s very good for New York.”

According to the CDC, 85.54 percent of Hudson Square, Little Italy, SoHo, and Tribeca are vaccinated. This is higher than Manhattan’s vaccination rate of 79.09 percent and New York City’s vaccination rate of 69.45 percent. The case and death rate for these neighborhoods are also lower than Manhattan’s as well as New York City’s.

 With hundreds of people unmasked in such close quarters, the feast does have the potential to  be a super spreader event as fully vaccinated people are still getting infected with Covid.  The vaccine card and mask mandates  are not required for outdoor events.

But the crowds who walked around eating cannolis and smoked sausages were not afraid and neither were the vendors hawking the food.

 “It doesn’t matter because we’re all outside, “ said Angelique Aquilino, 36, a pastry stand owner.  “We can do whatever we want to do, and everybody’s happy.”

Not every vendor was comfortable with the crowds.

Josephine Caso, sister of the owner of Cafe Napoli, checking her reflection in a window at the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. Photo by Maggie Geiler

“I tell you I’m a little leery,” said Josephine Caso, 85, sister of the owner of Café Napoli. “Thank God that everybody’s healthy, [my family and I] all got our shots, we’re happy to be back.”

 Caso and her family handed out cannoli’s, almond-filled pastries, and zeppole to customers waiting in long lines, some for up to 45 minutes. With much of Little Italy’s income being dependent on tourism, the tight-knit community was hit hard by the pandemic, causing most restaurants to lay off staff members and some to deal with closing.

 “Forget it, forget it, it was a disaster,” said Caso “I’ll tell you the truth, I was scared. We had the place closed for a year and a half, nobody walked the streets. It was very hard.”

Business owners hoped the feast would be the boost neighborhood businesses would need.

“With the whole festival going on, hopefully it boosts everything back up, said Manuel Siguencia,37, the manager  at Il Cortilo restaurant. “All of Little Italy is packed… it’s so awesome.”

And the 11-day festival was exceeding their expectations.

 “We were afraid that it wouldn’t be like this coming back,” said Aquilino. “It’s like nothing ever happened. Like we just fell asleep and woke up and we’re back where we were. Everyone is back. This neighborhood needed this.”

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 “The atmosphere here, it’s so unbelievably quiet for being downtown in New York City,” said Jorge Nunez, a 20 year old exchange student from Spain. “You can see the pain on people’s faces from what happened 20 years ago, but you can feel the peace and unity.”

A woman holds a paper with the times of the 9/11 attacks. Hundreds of people surround her in silence, tears, and hugging at Ground Zero to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Photo by Maggie Geiler

At 8:46 a.m. the first moment of silence began in remembrance of American Airlines Flight 11 hitting the North Tower of The World Trade Center. Although only families of the victims were allowed inside the ceremony, thousands surrounding Church Street could have been mistaken for family, hugging each other and streaming the ceremony live from their phones. One lady offered to share her phone with a group of strangers, crying while Bruce Springsteen’s “I’ll See You In My Dreams” echoed from people’s phones throughout Lower Manhattan.

 “I was down here the day it happened,” said Sheila Ondracheck, 54, from Chicago. “This is the first time I’ve been back. Every year on this day I write a letter to each of my closest friends to tell them how much I love them and to live life to the absolute fullest, because you just never know how much time you have left.”

 More moments of silence followed at 9:03 a.m., commemorating United flight 175 hitting the South Tower, 9:59 a.m., when the South Tower collapsed, and 10:28 a.m., when the North Tower collapsed. People continued to weep and hug, some of which were Millennials and Gen Z.

 “It’s beautiful to see all the people that have come together from different backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures and are respecting each other,” stated Makenna Murphy, 18, a student in New York City. “Even though I wasn’t born yet when [9/11] happened, I feel like I have seen the repercussions of it. Between The Patriotism Act and the amping of security, it’s crazy how one event can have such an egregious impact on the world.”  

 While close to 3,000 people died from the attacks, according to USA Today, nearly 10,000 first responders and others in the World Trade Center have been diagnosed with cancer and more than 2,000 have died from health complications attributed to 9/11. First responders and cancer survivors were not invited to the ceremony.

Dotti Cappola, Ground Zero first responder, returns 20 years later as a cancer survivor to advocate for those who’s health has been impacted from the attacks. “20 years ago, we came here to help people… today, I came for closure.” Photo by Maggie Geiler

 “We were set up right on the pile manning the tents nonstop, this is our first time back,” said Dotti Cappola, 62, a 9/11 Disaster Medical Assistance Team first responder from Boston. “We were hoping to get in but they won’t let us in, it’s hard because there’s so many of us.”

 Cappola said that not only is she a 9/11 first responder but a 9/11 cancer survivor.

 “I’m a 9/11 cancer survivor. Five from our team got cancer, one of our best friends who worked our tent passed. There was debris in our mouth and eyes for weeks. I came here for closure,” said Cappola through tears.

 Although Cappola said that it hasn’t been easy getting the care she needs, she said for her and friend Mike Vojak, it’s not about acknowledgement but remembrance.

 “We took a lot of pictures in our own mind that we can’t get rid of,” said Vojak, 62, also a 9/11 Disaster Medical Assistance Team first responder from Boston. “I remember part of the towers were on that highway over there, they fell in a way that looked like they were hands giving up souls to God. For 20 years I haven’t been able to get that out of my mind… today it’s nice to see people remember. This is my closure.”

Both Cappola and Vojak tied ribbons of remembrance for their teammate who died on a gate across from where the Twin Towers stood.

 “We just tell people we hope they don’t forget,” Cappola said. “There are so many lives affected – still so many dying from laten cancer. This country needs to come together now more than ever because this can happen again.”

 The ceremony continued while names of those killed in the attacks were read into the afternoon.

 “When we needed something during that time, people came together and provided,” said Cappola. “The letters, the lunches from students, the truckloads of socks for the firefighters burned feet… we stood together as a nation. It’s nice to see people standing together today.” 

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