#Covid19GAHS: “A Narrative of Long Island City – Astoria During the Pandemic”

Since last month we have highlighted a bunch of virtual programs on social media, including our own, which expressly call for the residents of Queens to tell their stories during this unprecedented health crisis.

Starting with the #GraceofQU2020 photo series, which we introduced back on March 15th, the idea behind most of these programs is to get our Queens neighbors actively involved with the present day.

Below is a list of those Queens organizations, their projects and their focuses:

1. Queenscapes - #GraceofQU2020 – Sharing positive and creative photographic Queens stories of coping with grace.

2. Queens Memory Project - #QueensCovid – Gathering the stories of today as a testament to the struggles and resiliency of the World’s Borough.

3. Meanwhile Back in Queens - #QueensLovesQueens – Collecting stories and sharing resources with the residents of Queens.

Today, we are proud to introduce another Queens virtual documenting project we not only stand behind, but also will be an active participant in developing.

Starting today and until the foreseeable future we are collaborating with the Greater Astoria Historical Society and their project, #Covid19GAHS: “A Narrative of Long Island City – Astoria During the Pandemic.”

#Covid19GAHS is a direct community call to document a pandemic. For a generation the Greater Astoria Historical Society has been recording and documenting our Long Island City— the people and neighborhoods of Old Astoria Village, Astoria Park, Steinway, Ditmars, Bowery Bay, Ravenswood, Astoria Broadway, Dutch Kils, Queens Plaza, Hunters Point, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens, and Blissville – telling the stories from their communities’ founding through this present day.

Folks, starting right now, please use the hashtag #Covid19GAHS on all of your photos taken since the start of the Covid-19 crisis last month in any of the many neighborhoods of Astoria and Long Island City. If you want to share your written stories you can also share them directly on the Greater Astoria Historical Society’s website astorialic.org.

As an added bonus, all the photos with the hashtag #Covid19GAHS will directly be uploaded to their website as well. So, if you want credit for your photos, please add your first and last name to each photo tagged on Instagram.

We look eagerly look forward to seeing all of your amazing photos, and seeing and reading all of your amazing stories of Astoria & Long Island City today!

Words and photo by Adolfo Steve Vazquez