The Year in Photos: The Moments That Captivated NYC in 2022

It started with the inauguration of Mayor Eric Adams and a tragic fire in The Bronx and saw historic labor actions and a blistering election along the way.

By Ben Fractenberg
December 30, 2022

In the long view, 2022 may be remembered as the year New York City reopened from the pandemic, as residents and tourists alike once again enjoyed our city’s famous culture and nightlife.

Not everything returned to business as usual — with city beaches and pools struggling to hire enough lifeguards and subway ridership still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels.

But across the city and throughout the year, New Yorkers gathered in public — to protest, campaign, party, argue and laugh. It was a year of historic labor actions, from Staten Island workers winning the first-ever vote for a union at Amazon, to striking Starbucks baristas and New School adjuncts demonstrating in picket lines.

And the city took in a wave of migrant asylum-seekers, sometimes in chaos and confusion and sometimes with open arms.

We also saw a closer-than-expected governor’s race, with the Republican “red wave” hitting the shores of Brooklyn and Eastern Queens – even while the GOP was disappointed in much of the country.

Here are some of our most striking images from 365 days like no other.

Mayor Eric Adams is sworn into office moments after midnight on New Year’s Day in Times Square, Jan. 1, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

A Bronx residential building fire killed more than a dozen people, including the 19-year-old cousin of Fatma Barow, Jan. 10, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx and Queens) speaks at a Times Square rally for delivery workers, Jan. 23, 2022.

Credit: Claudia Irizarry Aponte / THE CITY

Hundreds of city workers march across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest against the city’s vaccine mandate, Feb. 7, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Community residents hold a vigil in Chinatown near the building where 35-year-old Christina Lee was fatally stabbed, Feb. 15, 2022.

Credit: Clifford Michel / THE CITY

A Hollis community group urges residents not to illegally dump garbage in the neighborhood, Feb. 17, 2022.

Credit: Gabriel Sandoval / THE CITY

Taxi medallion owners protest in front of Midtown offices of a law firm for the lender OSK, March 3, 2022.

Credit: Jose Martinez / THE CITY

Amazon Labor Union organizers Christian Smalls, left, and Derrick Palmer share a moment of levity at a bus stop outside a Staten Island warehouse and fulfillment center, March 15, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Comedian Lauryn Petrie jokes about working at a morgue during the COVID pandemic in a performance in Astoria, Queens, March 16, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Amazon Labor Union workers are euphoric after becoming the first warehouse in the country to successfully organize, April 1, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin leaves Manhattan Federal Court after being arraigned on corruption charges, April 12, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

Police and media converge on the 36th Street station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn after a man fired shots in the subway, injuring 19 people, April 13, 2022.

Credit: Jason Scott Jones / THE CITY

Thousands of abortion rights supporters pack Foley Square after a report that the Supreme Court was set to overturn Roe v. Wade, May 3, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

A heroin user sits in the 181st Street subway station after getting a clean syringe and rubber band from a nearby overdose prevention center, May 6, 2022.

Credit: Jose Martinez / THE CITY

A Times Square entertainer waits for tourists to pass, while bad economic news is displayed in the background, May 11, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Family and supporters of people who died on Rikers Island rally at City Hall, May 17, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

Commuter numbers reached levels not seen since 2019 in working-class areas like Corona, Queens, June 17, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

Young swimmers enjoy the opening of city pools, as the Parks Department struggles to recruit qualified lifeguards, June 28, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Inna Malamura, 36, and her daughter, Polina, 10, came to Brooklyn in June after fleeing Vinnytsia, a city near Kiev, July 5, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

Franyerson, 9, who recently arrived in New York City from Venezuela with his father, plays outside the 30th Street intake center, Aug. 15, 2022.

Credit: Gabriel Poblete / THE CITY

LGBTQ+ beachgoers at The People’s Beach at Jacob Riis Park celebrate the life of Ms. Colombia, Aug. 27, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

A Jacob Riis Houses tenant brings bottled water home after positive arsenic tests were reported there, Sept. 6, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Cab driver Hector Bonilla of The Bronx has experienced bumps in the road to getting a marijuana-selling license after previous drug-related arrests, Sept. 13, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Former Twin Parks resident Vernessa Cunningham continued to have trouble finding permanent housing, 10 months after a fire killed 17 people in The Bronx affordable housing development, Oct. 2, 2022.

Credit: Jonathan Custodio / THE CITY

Workers at Central Family Life Center on Staten Island load bags into a truck of donations for recently arrived migrants from Latin America, Oct. 21, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

Queens residents celebrate Diwali outside of the Sikh Cultural Society gurdwara in South Richmond Hill, Oct. 24, 2022.

Credit: Haidee Chu / THE CITY

Billion Oyster Project worker Emily Roan tags shells before placing them along the Williamsburg waterfront, Oct. 25, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Dilenia Sessar lines up her shot at Astoria’s Steinway Billiards, which was at risk of being shuttered to make way for Innovation QNS, Nov. 2, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Gov. Kathy Hochul campaigns on Election Day in Downtown Brooklyn, Nov. 8, 2022. The incumbent beat U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin by under seven points as the city saw low turnout.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Mariano Laboy, left, was among a group of U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin supporters chanting, “Crime!” at a campaign stop in Jackson Heights on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Adjunct professors at The New School walked a picket line outside the university’s main campus on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Dec. 1, 2022.

Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán / THE CITY

At City Hall, mental health advocates protest Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to give NYPD officers more leeway to involuntarily hospitalize people showing signs of severe mental illness, Dec. 8, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

The FDNY responds to a three-alarm blaze at an NYPD impound and evidence storage warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Dec. 13, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY

Volunteers greet migrants at Port Authority after they arrive on a bus from Texas, Dec. 19, 2022.

Credit: Ben Fractenberg / THE CITY