But gone are the exuberant tour ticket vendors persuading visitors to buy a double decker bus tour. Those jobs were lost as tourism is virtually non-existent. For the past seven years, Ademuyiwa Onitiri worked with TopView sightseeing tours selling tickets for their double decker sightseeing bus before the lockdown. 

‘‘There was one day I drove past Manhattan and I felt like oh my God, I miss Times Square,’’ said Onitiri.

 His last day in Times Square was in March, shortly after everything was shut down as coronavirus cases rose.

‘‘It’s not mostly about missing Times Square, but the income…as well, he said. “ I miss the activities .I miss the side attraction, the performances.”

Olayinka Oloruntimilehin is a colleague of Onitiri who also worked with TopView . She has been selling tour tickets since 2018 and laments that it’s a ‘different world for them’.

‘‘I had colleagues that applied for unemployment on the 17th (March) as soon as they put it on the (notice) board, no work no work,” she said.”  I thought it was going to be like the president was saying, ‘it’s a flu, it’s going to vanish.’ I believed that and then two weeks, one month, two months, three  months ( passed).’’

Before the coronavirus outbreak, Onitiri said he spoke to an average of 100 people daily.

“We are independent contractors,’’ he said. “Independent contractors meaning that we work on our own time and we are just paid commission on the sales that we made.’’

His average was selling about 20 tickets a day, he said. A 48-hour hop on and off pass cost  $89.

But with no tourists in sight, these two ticket vendors, both of Nigerian origin, have been out a job.

‘So basically, I have been looking for something else to do, like another job,’’ said Oloruntimilehin.

Onitiri said he had to apply for unemployment to make ends meet.

‘‘It’s just not very easy, especially when the bills are not going to wait, they keep coming,” he said.” I have been living on savings and even it’s depleted to almost  zero. So, seeking government assistance for now, which I have never done before, because I like to earn my living.’’

Top View will resume on July 20 and  is slashing prices up to 75%.

However, it’s unclear if there will be tourists by then with international flights still restricted and a 14- day mandatory quarantine in place for persons travelling to New York from other states with high corona infection rates.

In his briefing on Monday,  Gov. Andrew Cuomo said they have had new infection cases coming from other states. 

‘‘We are already seeing it,” he said. “We have had significant clusters with people if people came out of state. They came in, they attended a function, bang! The next day we have an increase in the infections. We’re doing so many testing and so many tracing that we can trace it back to patient zero and they are very often from out of state.’’

The tour ticket vendors believe people will be scared to come to the city.

‘‘Everybody hears about New York City and they are very afraid to come to the city because it was  the epicenter of the Covid-19,” Ontiri said. “So because of that people are scared to come.”

He said he has friends from other states who are wary of coming to the city.

‘‘ I have some folks, some friends that are living in other states had hitherto the ambition to come to the city to have fun,” he said.  “But right now everybody cancelled it and I’m sure it would be like that for some other people too. So, it’s not going to be business as usual for now.’’

 In 2019, 66.6 million visitors traveled to New York City for business and leisure trips according to NYC & Company’s annual report.   Eighty percent were domestic tourists while international visitors made up 20%.  They generated close to $70 billion in revenue. 

Oloruntimilehin said it will be impossible for an out of state visitor to manage the lengthy quarantine required in same cases and still have vacation time left  to enjoy the city’s available attractions.

“For me the basic things we do as ticket sellers we won’t be able to do it,’’ said Oloruntimilehin.

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Demonstrators chanted, “No Justice No Peace” “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and ‘”We are George.”

The protest was largely peaceful on Saturday afternoon in the Flatbush Area. But gradually became rowdy when some demonstrators pelted police officers with stones, bottled water and other objects.

Police responded using batons and pepper spray on the crowd.  Dozens of the protesters were also arrested during the altercation with the police.

On Bedford Avenue, protesters smashed the windshields of two NYPD vehicles. A third police car was torched on the inside, on Synder Avenue. Firefighters quickly intervened to put out the fire.

The death of another unarmed black man as a result of police brutality have sparked days of mass protests and culminated in riots in some cities across the country.

Crowd chants ‘hands up don’t shoot’. Flatbush, Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Flatbush, Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Windshield of police vehicle smashed. Flatbush, Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Police arrest man during protest on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Police officers check damaged vehicle. Flatbush, Brooklyn, May 30, 2020  Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Flatbush, Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Protesters take photos of police officers deployed to Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Man yells, “No justice No Peace” Flatbush, Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Demonstrators confront police officers. Flatbush, Brooklyn. May 30, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

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But weeks before this became mandatory, people wearing it were mostly from the Asian American community which made them targets of racist attacks, when people assumed they had the disease as fears about the coronavirus spread.

Since the directive came into effect on April 17, 2020, more people in Brooklyn have adjusted to this new face covering lifestyle when stepping out. While most people are wearing surgical masks, others are making their own face mask from colorful fabrics and some are going all out with full face respirators which is required in a hazardous environment.  

However, as more people are using the masks and disposable gloves to protect themselves from the virus, the more these single use items are littering the streets.

Health experts warn of the danger posed by getting into contact with contaminated protective gears if not properly disposed of.  Environmentalists also say if not checked these PPEs could become an environmental hazard adding up to the plastic pollution long after coronavirus is eradicated.

Astor Place Subway Station, Manhattan. March 31, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A woman wears a mask she describes as fancy with a Chanel logo. Quincy Street, Brooklyn. April 28, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Outside the entry way of a grocery store where a delivery truck had just pulled out. Kossuth Place, Brooklyn. March 31, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A woman wears her homemade mask. Broadway, Brooklyn. April 22, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

People’s Garden. Greene avenue, Brooklyn. March 31, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A woman wears two face masks, a grey one on top of a surgical mask. Quincy Street, Brooklyn. April 28, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Broadway, Brooklyn. March 31, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A woman improvises with a sleep mask. Green Avenue, Bushwick. April 22, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Spring flowers are beginning to bloom. Grove Street, Brooklyn. April 11, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A man in a full-face respirator waits in line in front of a grocery shop. Ralph Avenue, Brooklyn. April 22, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

Glove and cigarette butt discarded on the street. Patchen Avenue, Brooklyn. April 28, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A woman wears a face shield and surgical face mask for ‘double protection’ against the coronavirus. Broadway, Brooklyn. April 22, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

The wind carries a white glove over another on a sidewalk. Quincy Street, Brooklyn. April 28, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

A man wears a homemade face mask on his way to get some groceries. Broadway, Brooklyn. April 22, 2020. Photo by Narkwor Kwabla

This is a project of Lori Grinker’s NYU graduate photojournalism class.

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