In this photo, we see Albita, a baby hawk standing proud and somewhat defiant at dawn in the spring of 2020, on a fire escape along a Broadway building in West Harlem.

During COVID, when New Yorkers were in quarantine, leaving bustling neighborhoods freakishly devoid of people, wildlife flourished, making their dramatic comeback a welcomed surprise.

Growing up in West Harlem during the 70’s & 80’s, it can truly be said we lived in a “concrete jungle” where neighborhoods were practically devoid of all flora and fauna that once flourished here.

This is certainly true for red-tailed hawks, which had disappeared from the New York sky but are now reclaiming and thriving in the land they once inhabited. 

How apropos an image then, a story or a portent for West Harlem, a community which is struggling to reclaim its former self as a once thriving blue-collar community before COVID? 

Could it be that natural reclamation goes hand in hand with community development? 

I take it as a sign that the return of native plants and trees, and the life they support, is part and parcel for any struggling community to reclaim its former self and a harbinger for better days ahead.