A tale of two parks

But not all parts of the city were enjoying the respite equally. In contrast to Central Park in Manhattan, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Domino Park along the East River in hip Williamsburg, parks in the Bronx were less occupied. Blogger Ed García Conde, who runs the Instagram page Welcome2TheBronx, posted an image of a police van patrolling St. Mary’s Park in the South Bronx on May 2, the cops inside ensuring that visitors were adhering to social distancing. “This is the largest park in the South Bronx and is generally full,” Conde wrote on the photo’s caption. “But it was relatively empty yesterday despite the warm weather.”

This image was in stark contrast to a viral image Conde also took on May 2, showing Christopher Street Pier, on the edge of Greenwich Village, packed with New Yorkers enjoying the sun, in close proximity without masks. No officers were in sight, according to Conde. In another image Conde took at the same park on May 3, an officer is calmly passing out face masks to visitors.

“I guess in the police force’s eyes, people of color need to be policed,” Conde said in an interview with Yahoo News. “We need to be told what to do.”