COVID in Long Island, New York

“Listen to episodes of Life Under Coronavirus: Long Island’s Helpers, Newsday’s podcast on the pandemic hosted by Mark Chiusano and produced by Amanda Fiscina. It’s a look into how Long Islanders are meeting the challenge of COVID-19. Each episode features a Long Islander talking about his or her experience with coronavirus, with a focus on what people are doing to help. Join us to hear upbeat stories that show how LI is getting by under disease lockdown, an oral history for the period when this is all over.” Listen here.

New York Oral Histories

The New York library system’s Community Oral History Project has reached out to everyday people to hear stories of themselves and their neighborhoods — places ranging from Sandy Grounds in Staten Island, Roosevelt Island, and the Lower East Side. Of course, there’s also one for the many neighborhoods that constitute the Northwest Bronx: “Remembering Riverdale.” For full story click here. The link to the website is here.

Pandemic in New York City

A tribute to a Jackson Heights bike shop, a diary entry from a teenager and a rainbow painted by 4-year-old “Lizzy” are among the items, stories and oral histories being collected by some of New York’s cultural institutions to capture life in the city during the pandemic. With every day in flux and guidance evolving on how to conduct life, researchers, oral historians and archivists say it’s essential to document snippets of the wide range of experiences New Yorkers are having. For full story click here.

Oral history of New York Food

As Marcel Proust so famously documented, it's often the simplest of foods that can carry us back to remembrances of things past. And so perhaps it's not so surprising that, when freelance food writer Anne Noyes Saini began asking New York's elderly residents about their memories of the foods of the city during the early- to mid-20th century, it was humble meals like baked beans and the fruits sold by old-timey wagons that most often came to mind. Saini's project, an ongoing oral history called Forgotten Foods of New York City, is accessible via Soundcloud and was also featured last week on the storytelling site Narratively.  For full story click here.

Hurricane Sandy interviews

When Hurricane Sandy came ashore, it fell to the city’s leaders and the thousands of workers at their command to secure our coasts, to rescue those trapped by water and without power, to help the city rebuild. The Observer spent Monday and Tuesday talking with New York’s top public officials about Hurricane Sandy. These are their experiences in their own words.  For full story click here