Pandemic in photos: Public places stand abandoned in time of virus
- By The Associated Press
These are places meant for people. New York's Grand Central Terminal — a common metaphor for "busy" in much of the English-speaking world — dotted with only scattered commuters. The Grand Place in Brussels at twilight, its cobblestones so devoid of foot traffic that the streetlight reflections sprawl for yards at a time. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, abandoned, jutting into a lonely sky like some strange obelisk on a distant science-fiction planet.
When the world's public places empty out as humanity cocoons in self-protection, Earth's human-built and natural landmarks are freed to reveal some of their less frequently shared secrets.
They reveal their majesty: The curved, building-studded shoreline of Arpoador Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, seems all the more striking when framed by a single human being watching the surf.
They show how epic scale can become even more dramatic when stripped of the humans who usually populate it: A single heart, formed by the arms of two stranded South Korean tourists, frames the grandeur of the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan, Mexico, in a way no crowd ever could.
They reveal how people complete them: The glowing mega-wattage of Times Square, with empty tables in the foreground, feels utterly insufficient when it temporarily surrenders its status as the crossroads of the world. A glimpse of Las Vegas' synthetic landscape seems irrelevant when those who flock to it turn their backs.
They reveal their need for context: The London Eye, so full of possibility when viewed from the stroll over Westminster Bridge's crowded walkways, seems intrusive and unsettling from the same vantage point when frozen in an abandoned coronavirus moment.
Around the world, these landmarks lie fallow, waiting out a tense and dispiriting historical moment. They persevere. They're not going anywhere.
These are places meant for people, though. And the people will — we suspect, we think, we hope — return before too long.
But when?

A woman walks through a lightly trafficked Times Square in New York, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
- Seth Wenig

People walk along the Las Vegas Strip devoid of the usual crowds after casinos were ordered to shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak, March 18, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
- John Locher

The Obelisk landmark stands high above an empty Corrientes Avenue in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
- Natacha Pisarenko

The Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate is empty in Berlin, Germany, March 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
- Markus Schreiber

A woman wearing a face mask walks over a near empty Westminster Bridge backdropped by the London Eye ferris wheel in central London, March 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
- Matt Dunham

A sparsely occupied Grand Central Station appears at midday on March 18, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
- Evan Agostini

An elderly woman watches Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
- Silvia Izquierdo

People walk along the virtually empty Grand Place in downtown Brussels, March 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
- Francisco Seco

South Korean tourists Myung Hee Lee, left, and Byung Ho Im, form a heart with their hands as they pose for pictures atop the Pyramid of the Moon, in Teotihuacan, Mexico, March 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
- Rebecca Blackwell

People walk past closed shops and restaurants near the La Sagrada Familia basilica, center, in Barcelona, Spain, March 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
- Felipe Dana

A view of empty Piazza Navona, in Rome, March 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
- Andrew Medichini

Pigeons walk on the Trocadero square in front of the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, March 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
- Thibault Camus
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