July 26, 2020
Human Connection Arts hosted their 7th Annual Bodypainting Day yesterday afternoon in Times Square. Given the dearth of events of all kinds since COVID-19 came to town, even a scaled down version of this one was a welcome respite from all the shutdowns and cancellations. And it was a bit smaller than usual, especially on the gawker side of the fence this year.
Normally, viewers swarm to this event and you usually have to stand behind a few rows of people just to see what’s going on. That wasn’t the case Saturday. There was a steady flow of spectators alright, but generally just one row deep and finding a front row spot along the barrier wasn’t too hard. Pedestrian traffic in Times Square remains light and social distancing was pretty easy to maintain. A lot of businesses are still closed and what with international travel restrictions, there are way fewer tourists this year.
But events such as Bodypainting Day, along with the Yanks/Mets game the other day, are encouraging signs that NYC life may return to something sort of recognizable as normal eventually. In the meantime, with most of the restaurants and hotels in Times Square closed or running very limited ops, you can still get a lamb gyro at a halal stand if you’re hungry but if you need a bathroom you’re out of luck.
After four hours of bodypainting under the blazing hot July sun, the artists and models posed for some group pictures before taking off on foot towards the 5th Avenue branch of NYPL and points beyond, led by HCA’s main man Andy Golub.
Here are a few more looks from Saturday’s event:
