But as early reports of COVID-19 began making waves in late January 2020, China quickly closed its borders to all flights and halted all adoptions to reduce the spread of the virus.

“China has a really stable adoption process that spans a few decades…just with COVID that’s really thrown things off,” said Kym Lee.

Now, as COVID’s year anniversary has come and gone, the Lees are among hundreds of families still left in total darkness waiting for China to begin processing paperwork so that they may travel to bring their children home.

The hardest part about waiting has been “wondering how she’s doing, and not having regular updates,” said Lee.

Since China began international adoptions in 1992, it has consistently been the top country for international adoptions, as it typically has the easiest and least expensive process. During the year 2005, a peak of 7,903 Chinese children were adopted by Americans.

Although, as China’s economy has grown and domestic adoptions have increased, international adoption numbers have significantly declined since 2005 to an average of around 2,500. Yet, as a result of COVID, 2020 has the lowest number, with only a handful of successful adoptions before things were shut down. 

Katie Chaires knew immediately after the adoption of her first son, Asher, in 2016 that she didn’t want him to be an only child. So, in December of 2018, she filed for a second adoption. She received clearance to fly to China on January 28, 2020, to bring her daughter Noa, 3, home, but three days prior, she received word that China had officially ceased all travel. 

Katie Chairs and her son Asher, 6, March 7, 2021. Photo by Julie Johnson

“I feel like the hardest part has been not knowing how she’s doing, not being able to see her grow,” said Chaires. “I feel like I’ve missed a year of her growth and development and getting to know her. Because at this point, she should’ve been home for a year already.”

Chaires said Noa has Global Developmental Delay, and she suspects medical issues as well. Still, without many updates other than the occasional photo and short video clips the orphanage provides, she doesn’t know a lot about Noa’s wellbeing. 

Initially, adoption agencies had prepared families for a one to two-week delay. But, as COVID grew to a global pandemic, they have stopped predicting when things might resume. What was once the most prominent international adoptions system has swiftly fallen to radio silence, even as other countries like Bulgaria and Columbia have slowly reopened to international adoptions.

On New Year’s Day of 2020, Cynthia and Andrea Bonezzi touched down in Maoming, a city along the tip of China’s southern coast, to adopt their second daughter Anna, 3. 

During their two weeks in China, there were no emerging reports about COVID-19. The city was getting ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year and, “everything was normal,” said Cynthia Bonezzi.

They remain amid the few families to successfully bring their daughter home on January 18, 2020, before China halted all adoptions. 

“We were able to get it done in record time and just made it before everything shut down in the pandemic,” said Bonezzi.

Families who were on their way to China with connecting flights were turned away at their midpoint destinations and returned home childless, Bonezzi said. 

And if the Bonezzis had been one of the families turned away, Anna probably wouldn’t be alive, as she was in a fragile state medically due to a chronic illness, and required immediate surgery when they arrived home in New York City.

Cynthia Bonezzi and her two daughters Lily and Anna in China’s White Swan Hotel, January 2020. Photo Courtesy of Cynthia Bonezzi

 There have been no reported cases of COVID outbreaks in any orphanages or institutions as a result of the lockdown.

But studies have shown, the longer children are in these orphanages and institutions, the more significant setbacks in motor skills and cognitive function they may encounter. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia attributes these delays to a lack of verbal and physical stimulation from caregivers. 

According to Lisa Nalvin, MD, once a child is placed into an adoptive family, they typically “demonstrate remarkable ‘catch-up’ rates when given the appropriate support.”

The Lees celebrated their daughter’s fourth birthday in December by sending a cake and goodies to the orphanage. And as the days, weeks, and months slowly pass still with no word from China about when adoptions might resume, Kym Lee continues to remain hopeful that her daughter will be able to spend her next birthday at home.

“Everything’s really up in the air,” said Lee. “We’re praying and hoping and believing that she’ll be able to come home maybe this year.”

The post Chinese adoptions halted by COVID appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The park was alive, drawing many people to enjoy the open air and make larger movements than small shoebox apartments in the city might allow. The warmth offered a sliver of hope to the neighborhood as the end of the pandemic tunnel seems to be glowing with hopeful possibility. 

A woman sits on a bench as three dogs run past in a dog park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

A woman juggles batons in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

A man paints a large canvas in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

A man plays ping pong in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

A man roller skates in circles in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

Two girls lean against a tree watching dancers in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

A man throws a football in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

A man dances while painting barefoot in Tompkins Square Park, March 9, 2021. Photo by Inga Parkel

The post Tompkins Square Park Springs Into Action appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

By aggressively testing and tracing contacts, Beijing has managed to keep the rise in infections in single digits for a week. On July 4, the local government announced that it would no long require those who leave the city to be tested before departure. 

After three weeks of semi-shutdown, Beijing reopens. People gather in shopping centers, dance in parks, and cram into subways during rush hours. The only places left desolate are the nucleic test centers, where the city tested 11 million residents — more than half of its population – in less than three weeks.

A guard takes the temperature of customers coming into an Apple store in the
Sanlitun Shopping Center, Beijing. Photo by Hannah Zhang

A busy traffic intersection near the Ministry of Commerce, Beijing. Photo by Hannah Zhang

A subway transfer station at Line 6 Nanluoguxiang, Beijing. Photo by Hannah Zhang

People getting on and off subway Line 8 in Nanluoguxiang, Beijing. Photo by Hannah Zhang

People dance in a plaza in Dongdan, Beijing. Photo by Hannah Zhang

A closed test center at Tongren Hospital, Beijing. Photo by Hannah Zhang

The post Beijing reopens as the second wave of coronavirus dies down appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

A person walks through an empty 14th Street Union Square, one of New York’s busiest subway stations. March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Masked commuters wait for their trains to arrive at 34th Street Herald Square, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

NYPD police officers patrolling the subways ride the 6 train Uptown, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A woman waits for the L train at 14th Street and 8th Ave, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

Subway riders wearing protective masks prepare to board their arriving train at Times Square 42nd Street, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A family rides the N train toward Astoria, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A man waits for his arriving train at 42nd Port Authority, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A lone MTA worker at Hudson Yards pauses to check their phone, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

A lifeless Hudson Yard Station, March 24, 2020. Photo by Thomas Hengge

The post The vanishing subway appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Federal workers impacted by the recently ended 35-day shutdown, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, received help from the ‘Stand with Federal Workers’ event yesterday at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where food and metro cards were provided.

“I’m the wife of a government employee,” New York City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel who co-hosted the event said. “We’re two working parents and so it was a concern just within my household.”

Ampry-Samuel sent out a notice on social media asking families who’ve been impacted by the shutdown to inbox her and let her know how they can help, she said.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect but we were alarmed at the number of messages we’ve seen,” she said.

Ampry-Samuel addressed people’s needs for help with food and housing by connecting with organizations. The event today was supported by One Brooklyn Health and Campaign Against Hunger and Power of Two.

New York City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, right, co-hosted the Stand with Federal Workers’ event today at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, providing food and metro cards to federal workers affected by the government shutdown.
Photo by Julia Lee

“We were getting by knowing another check was definitely going to be there,”  said a federal worker who did not want to give his name.. “But with that second check not coming in, we had to be really on the grind, and know what we had to do. Those were definitely rough times.”

Before the furlough, the workers had to pick up extra hours or work overtime to make ends meet, they said.

“My rent is $2100 a month and I have electricity bills to pay, college tuition, I have daycare, things of that matter,” said another federal worker who did not want to give her name. “So when this happened, it’s like what am I going to do.”

The federal workers said events like these are “extremely helpful.”

“It makes me so happy to see all these people that’s helping us,” said another federal worker.. “You see all these bad things, but then you see there’s still good people around. It’s such a beautiful thing to see.”

Volunteers helped with the ‘Stand with Federal Workers’ event today at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where food and metro cards were provided to federal workers affected by the government shutdown.
Photo by Julia Lee

During the shutdown, the employees said they have also been supporting one another by having potlucks at work.

The government is opened for another three weeks and there is uncertainty as to what will happen next.

The workers are worried another shutdown is coming.

Trump has said he will declare a national emergency if he doesn’t receive funding for the border wall.

But Ampry-Samuel is hopeful that there will not a second shutdown.

“At the end of the day, I truly believe we live in a great country and our leaders will do the right thing on behalf of the people,” she said.

The post Federal employees get free food and metro card as second shutdown looms appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

For Williamsburg, The L train has long been the lifeline to the hipsters who live and visit its chic boutiques, artsy cafes, trendy restaurants and cutting edge nightclubs. But a looming April shutdown may put a chokehold on area businesses and hurl them into an uncertain future.

“I’m at the mercy of whatever happens with the subway,” said Fabio Roberti, the owner of Earwax Records. “I’m hoping that people will be able to get here by shuttle buses or shuttle ferries, but whether that works or not remains to be seen.”

Roberti has been doing business in Williamsburg for 22 years. He said there is little he can do to prepare his business for the loss of the subway line.

The 15 month repair project is expected to make it significantly more difficult for commuters to make the trek there. In 2012, the line was damaged during Hurricane Sandy and the L has been plagued with delays ever since. These repairs should fix that damage, but could change Williamsburg.

Mohammed Aldairi, the owner of tech repair shop, iTech Doc, said it will force neighbors to stay in the area.

“It’s good for business when there is more walking traffic,” he said.

Aldairi said that the current delays already makes commuting difficult.

“I’m excited for them to fix it,” he said. “We suffer from delays on the L every day and it makes it very hard for tourists to visit.”

To alleviate commuting issues for the 225,000 daily riders, the MTA plans to increase service along the J,M,Z, and G subway lines and add busses. They will also be a dedicated bus lane over the Williamsburg Bridge and a new ferry route between North Williamsburg and Stuyvesant Cove.

Aldiari has faith in these solutions.

“I think it will work if they increase the ferries,”he said. “We live so close to the river, and that will mean less traffic on the other trains.

Wendy Chun is the owner of Think Closet, a small boutique on Bedford Avenue. She is hopeful that the MTA’s solution will be enough to keep people coming into Williamsburg.

“I think a lot of people will take advantage of those buses and trains,” said Chun. “I don’t think it will stop tourists from coming to shop in Williamsburg. If they want to come, they will come.”

Williamsburg has been growing rapidly since the mid 2000’s, and has become one of New York’s most expensive neighborhoods. Some business owners are hoping to see a rent drop as a result of the shutdown.

“We are hoping for a rent drop,” said Chun.

In spite of the threat of the shutdown, Aldairi doesnt think that the economic power of Williamsburg is going anywhere anytime soon.

“This is Williamsburg,” he said. “In Williamsburg, business is always booming.”

The post L train shutdown can be boom or doom for local businesses appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Residents near 14th Street in the East Village are gearing up for what they fear will be more pollution then they can handle when the L train shuts down. Yesterday evening, they were able to address a panel of officials at a town hall meeting.

“I think the quality of my life will be drastically interrupted. It will be a disaster,” said Ken Ettinger, who lives on 13th Street. “If you go to 6th Avenue, north of 14th Street, when they have three buses lined up, it takes up the whole block. How do you think six buses are going to be maneuvering across a place where by definition, just being there is going to bring the street to its knees?”

The L train, which carries over 400,000 riders daily, is shutting down from the Bedford Avenue station in Brooklyn to the Eighth Avenue station in Manhattan, beginning in April 2019 to repair damages in the Canarsie Tunnel, caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The shutdown is expected to last 15 months. In the meantime, the MTA is increasing alternative subway, bus, and ferry services, as well as encouraging commuters to bicycle to their destination. But the increased services will unleash a fleet of buses on heavily congested 14th Street day and night, transforming it into the busiest bus route in the country.

The town hall meeting, one of more than 100 such meetings, was organized to give residents a forum to vent their concerns. Held at the Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village, over 100 people attended.

Multiple residents asked why the buses could not be more evenly diffused throughout the city.

Michele Campo, president of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors and member of the Kenmare/Little Italy Loop Coalition, proposed a route that takes different streets, but makes several turns, instead of going in a straight line. While the route is less direct, she said it follows existing bus routes and passes by all needed subway entrances.

“This route is logical, because it doesn’t impact the much smaller, residential, and the extremely congested-at-all-times Kenmare Street,” Campo said.

She also said  that the route currently proposed by the MTA and DOT interferes with emergency service routes, and said that her organization’s proposed route uses less trafficked and less residential streets, making it “smoother all around.”

Local resident Georgette Fleischer held her four-month-old daughter in her arms as she told the panel of transportation officials how she was worried that the diesel-fueled buses could harm the health of children. Fleischer pointed out the risk to her own daughter, as well as the presence of a Headstart child-care center near the route. She wanted to know why zero-emissions buses could not be used. The majority of the 200 additional buses are diesel-powered.

“If you cared about the long-term health of our children, you would have this in place or you would do something to get it in place,” she said.

While there do not seem to be plans to reduce or change the bus routes, officials did say that air quality levels would be monitored, and expressed an interest in reducing the number of diesel-fueled buses that will be taking the route.

“I wish I had more electric buses,” said panelist Andy Byford, the Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Transit Authority, in his response to Fleischer. “We are getting as many electric buses as we can. If there was a way of getting, of just buying brand-new electric buses from somewhere, we would do that.”

According to Department of Transportation Commissioner and panelist Polly Trottenberg, 70 buses an hour will be entering the neighborhoods in three new bus routes. While residents understood the necessity of the construction to repair the tunnel, they worried about the health risk to neighborhood children.

“Remember, rush hour is very close to when school-age kids are going to school,” said Daniel Nauxe, a small business owner who lives on 11th Street and Avenue A. He said he was representing his block.

“They’re going to be walking down the streets, breathing in an excessive amount of carbon monoxide, and diesel fumes, and gas fumes,” Nauxe said. “So, this is not really well thought out.”

George Jones, who lives on 14th Street, highlighted the presence of two local high schools, as well as a 17-floor dormitory building for students at the New School, estimating that hundreds of students lived there.

“A large number of the high school students spend their out of class hours congregating at the steps of brownstone buildings, immediately opposite the school,” Jones said.  

He believes the students will face danger crossing congested streets.

The panel also featured Deputy Commissioner for Transportation Planning and Management Eric Beaton and Chief of Operations Planning Peter Cafiero. Byford said that he would check in with the project manager as early as the following day, and try to make an immediate visit to 14th Street.

“We’re still listening,” said Byford. “We’re not going through the motions. We’re listening.”

The post East Village neighbors fear looming L Train shutdown appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Crowds waited to visit the reopened Statue of Liberty on Sunday through New York State funding. Photo by Lea Bouchoucha

National Park Service workers at the Statue of Liberty were called back to work on Sunday morning as the Statue of Liberty reopened its doors to visitors.

They had been sent home for 12 days as a result of the first partial government shutdown in more than a decade. New York State agreed to shoulder the costs of running the site for a period of six days from October 12 through October 17. The states of Arizona, Colorado, North Dakota and Utah, also took on for the cost of their respective national park operations.

David Cespedes, 31, returned to work on Liberty Island on Sunday after 12 days out of work due to the government shut down.  Photo by Lea Bouchoucha

David Cespedes, 31, a park service worker, received a call from his supervisor on Saturday asking him to return to work the next day.

“I am personally worried because I have kids, family, rent and bills to pay,” said Cespedes who lives in Woodside, Queens. He is also studying criminal justice at Berkeley College.

Cespedes did not get paid in full for the time he was off work. Friday, he received only a partial payment of 40 hours.

“My family was shocked because for me it is the first time that this [a government shutdown] happens,” he said. Cespedes came to the U.S. in 1994 from the Dominican Republic. He has been working at the Statue of Liberty for four years.

Since the start of government shutdown on Oct.1^st, about 800,000 federal workers like Cespedes have been sent home.

“They [the Government] are losing money and people need to work and to support their family, ” said Cespedes.

According to figures compiled by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, more than 7 million Americans were kept out of the parks during the first 10 days of the shutdown.

But Sunday morning in Battery Park, hundreds of tourists lined up to be among the first to see Lady Liberty. Marc Grenier from Quebec, Canada said he felt very glad when he found the Statue Of Liberty reopened. The 305-foot-tall monument is one of New York City’s most popular tourist attractions.

Joel Kukuh, 21, studies criminal law and works part time for the Parks Department. He also returned to work on Liberty Island on Sunday, with NY State funding. Photo by Lea Bouchoucha

Joel Kukuh, 21, is also a parks department employee.

“A lot of people showed up today,”said Kukuh. I guess they must have heard the news around the city. It is good to have people here because it makes you feel proud.”

Kukuh received less than half of his regular salary because of the shutdown.

New York State has paid for six days, about $61,600 a day, to reopen Liberty Island National Park.

The post Statue of Liberty reopens appeared first on Pavement Pieces.