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Over the course of 2023, New York City witnessed some of the most incredible news stories in recent times, from former President Donald Trump facing indictment; to the influx of new arrivals amid the ongoing migrant crisis; to mass protests over the killing of a homeless man aboard a subway train.
Here are some of the most dramatic photos amNewYork Metro has brought to you throughout the year.
January
A man mourns the lose of 9 year old Payton Thompson after she was killed during a three alarm house fire at 759 Howard Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn on January, 13,2023. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
24 individuals and 26 companies were indicted Wednesday by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Photo by Dean Moses Larry Atkinson, 64, was arrested on Jan. 23 for his alleged role in a double homicide that occurred 29 years ago. Photo by Dean Moses A demonstrator vandalizes a cop car in Times Square. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann The Watson Hotel locked its doors, refusing to allow asylum seekers back into the premises during an eruption into mania on Jan. 29. Photo by Dean Moses
February
A neighbor grieves after a man and woman were killed in a Brooklyn shooting on Feb. 3, 2023 being investigated as a murder-suicide involving a retired cop. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell Two cops embrace after the killing of officer Adeed Fayaz. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell Fallen officer Adeed Fayaz’s mother cries out in pain during the Brooklyn funeral on Feb. 4. Photo by Dean Moses U-Haul driver plows into nine people in Brooklyn, leaving one dead, cops say. The scene where police stopped the rampage. Photo by Dean Moses Sixty-two-year-old Weng Sor is led out of 68th precinct in cuffs. Photo by Dean Moses
March
Five people were rushed to St Barnabas Hospital as a result of a Bronx blaze, including two firefighters, two children, and one adult on March 1, according to the FDNY. Photo by Dean Moses A senior was left terrified. Arriving after the blaze was extinguished, she feared that her young grandson had perished in the flames but thankfully FDNY reported that he only suffered minor injuries. Photo by Dean Moses ‘He lost everything’: Queens delivery worker recounts harrowing moment e-bike battery burned his flesh, left him homeless. Photo by Adrian Childress Brooklyn cops help a woman after she is shot in the leg in Brooklyn on March 14. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
April
A massive manhole explosion rocked the East Village on April 2 afternoon, sending New Yorkers running, according to eyewitnesses. Photo by Dean Moses Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, now the world’s most famous prosecutor, outlined the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, and asserted that the one-time commander in chief was in serious legal trouble on April 4. Photo by Dean Moses Spraggins is accused of shooting 22-year-old Brett Boller, who just joined the NYPD three months ago, during a pursuit chase on April 5. The officer suffered a gunshot wound to his leg, but is expected to recover. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell The New York City Sheriff’s Office is at the forefront of the battle against illegal smoke shops in the Big Apple, and amNewYork Metro recently rode along with law enforcement officials as they conducted a takedown operation in Brooklyn and Queens — resulting in several arrests and seizures. Photo by Dean Moses “It’s over now, the music of the night.”
For 35 years, “The Phantom of the Opera” has served as the Great White Way’s masterpiece, a chilling gothic spectacle that all other Broadway musicals strive to model themselves after. However, despite the show’s record-breaking 3 1/2 decade run, the Majestic Theatre’s resident specter was at last laid to rest Sunday night in an epic curtain call that saw cast and creators weep. Photo by Dean Moses Workers continue to tear down the collapsed Financial District parking garage Thursday morning, hours after emergency personnel removed a dead victim from the rubble. Large diggers are chipping away at 57 Ann St. and removing an array of ruined vehicles from the rubble as part of the “controlled demolition” operation. Each totaled automobile is being searched for remains before being hauled onto a flatbed truck and driven away. Photo by Dean Moses
May
On May 3, police clashed with protesters and made a number of brutal arrests during a demonstration seeking justice for Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man who witnesses say was choked to death while riding the New York City subway earlier this week. Photo by Dean Moses A suspect is taken into custody during a Brooklyn standoff on May 5. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell ‘The reality of being invisible’: Homeless advocates say Jordan Neely wasn’t alone in suffering on the streets of NYC. Photo by Dean Moses Chaos erupted in Lower Manhattan on Monday night as protesters fuming over the killing of Jordan Neely clashed with the NYPD on the one-week anniversary of his death. Eleven were arrested — including a credentialed press photographer — and police also recovered a Molotov cocktail, in the wake of several bloody brawls, law enforcement sources said. Photo by Dean Moses Photojournalist who was arrested covering Neely protest calls for charges to be dropped. Photo by Dean Moses Daniel Penny, the man seen on video putting Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold turned himself in on May 13. Photo by Dean Moses prominent transgender activist Qween Jean was cuffed at Washington Square Park. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
June
Within seconds, chaos unfolded at the June 1 rally — sending some people running, and others racing to heckle the officers for wrestling their comrade to the ground. Photo by Dean Moses A devastating crash left one person dead, another in critical condition, and three others injured in Gramercy Park on June 4, police sources told amNewYork Metro. Sources said first responders rushed to save the lives of five people who were wounded when a car going northbound swerved into a LinkNYC kiosk on 21st Street and Third Avenue, taking two e-bikes and several pedestrians with it. Photo by Dean Moses The Big Apple turned a deep orange on June 7 as city officials continue to warn residents to stay clear of the smog wafting from the Canadian wildfire. Photo by Dean Moses A firefighter looks on as heavy fire shoots through the roof of a six-story apartment building at 1420 Noble Ave. in the Soundview section of the Bronx on Sunday, June 11, 2023. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
July
Mayor Eric Adams appoints Edward Caban as the 46th commissioner of the NYPD outside the 40th Precinct in the Bronx. Monday, July 17, 2023. Photo by Dean Moses The partial collapse of a large crane in Midtown Manhattan on July 26. Photo by Dean Moses The EMT who was stabbed by a patient in the back of an ambulance on the Upper West Side last week was released from hospital Wednesday to a flood of emotion from fellow paramedics. Julia Fatum, 25, was stabbed by an unhinged man while she was treating the patient in an ambulance at around 8 p.m. on July 19, according to police sources. Photo by Dean Moses Migrants on July 30 said they are still seeking shelter on the streets of Midtown, hungry and confused, after the Roosevelt Hotel — one of the many Big Apple locales housing asylum-seekers in recent months — reportedly reached capacity over the weekend. Photo by Dean Moses
August
Men continue to sleep huddled on the sidewalk outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, as the famous hotel is at full capacity and the City says it is bursting at the seams with asylum seekers. Photo by Dean Moses A family member of an officer and his father found with gunshot wounds to the head fell to her knees in agony. Photo by Dean Moses Union Square is recovering from the pandemonium that erupted Aug. 3 when hundreds of fans of the YouTube sensation Kai Carlo Cenat turned out to watch him in action and a riot resulted. Dozens of spectators began fighting at around 3 p.m., throwing paint cans, bottles, and anything they could get their hands on into the crowd. One man set off a fire extinguisher while another was walking around with a pickaxe after they tore their way into a construction site. Most of those involved were teenagers. Photo by Dean Moses 22-year-old Tyesheek Ruffin flipped amNewYork Metro the bird after he was allegedly found with a loaded firearm during a fare evasion on Aug. 16. The Creedmoor Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC) opened on Aug. 15 one day ahead of schedule.
The facility locals have dubbed “Tent City” is expected to house some 1,000 single males on the grounds of Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, with City Hall officials telling amNewYork Metro that it will hold between 100 to 150 people by the end of Aug. 15. Photo by Dean Moses A chaotic scene unfolded on the Upper East Side on Aug. 27 as pro- and anti-migrant demonstrators faced off, ending in a slew of arrests. Photo by Dean Moses
September
On Sept. 5, NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper identified 43-year-old Norton Blake — the man wanted for attacking a 60-year-old woman with her own cane inside of the 116th Street and Lenox Avenue subway station during the early hours of Friday, Sept. 1 — and pledged to swiftly make an arrest. Photo by Dean Moses The family of a grandmother who was gunned down by a stray bullet in the Bronx last week cursed the name of the suspected gunman as he was led away in cuffs to face justice on Sept. 18 night. Photo by Dean Moses Mayor Eric Adams and the New York Police Department kicked off a pilot program on Sept. 22 in which the Knightscope K5 autonomous security robot — originally unveiled earlier this year — will patrol the mezzanine of the Times Square 42 Street subway station. Photo by Dean Moses
October
Brian Dowling, the suspect in the murder of activist Ryan Carson, is escorted by detectives from the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn on Oct. 5. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell Tensions ran wild in Midtown on Oct. 8 as thousands of fuming New Yorkers with ties to Israel and Palestine marched in dueling protests. Photo by Dean Moses Massive Grand Central Station rush hour protest leads to arrests as protesters seek Middle East ceasefire following terrorist attacks. Photo by Dean Moses
November
Former President Donald Trump was left speechless on Monday after the judge in his ongoing civil fraud trial threatened to have him removed from the witness stand. This came immediately following a volley of verbal jabs traded between the embattled businessman and New York Attorney General Letitia James before the trial was even called into session on Nov. 6. Photo by Dean Moses A community is in mourning after a Bronx man was apparently burned to death inside an apartment building on Nov. 8, authorities and residents said. Residents of 399 East 160th Street wept profusely outside of the apartment building, huddling in each others’ arms and wailed in pain after the body of 38-year-old Guillermo Navedo was discovered on the top floor near the entrance to the roof at 11:27 a.m., NYPD and FDNY sources confirmed. Photo by Dean Moses Three people are dead and 14 injured in an early-morning inferno in Brooklyn, authorities said. The fire swiftly engulfed 242 Albany Ave. in Crown Heights after being sparked in the basement of the three-story house at 4:34 a.m. Responding firefighters rushed to the scene in three minutes and 20 seconds and attempted to douse the 3-alarm fire while simultaneously evacuating residents. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell Two workers were dramatically rescued after they were left dangling from Upper East Side scaffolding on Nov. 13. Dozens of migrants and advocates protested Mayor Eric Adams’ effort to limit shelter stays by pulling out sleeping bags on the doorstep of Gracie Mansion on Nov. 16. Photo by Dean Moses A Queens shooting suspect engaged police officers in an hours-long standoff at an apartment building on Wednesday with the perpetrator critically wounded. The impasse ended just before 2 p.m. on Nov. 22 with the suspect removed by police and rushed to a local hospital for treatment. It was not immediately clear whether the gunman shot himself, or had been wounded by police. Photo by Dean Moses A small band of protesters stormed the Rockefeller Tree lighting stage brandishing a banner reading “cease fire” while others in the audience waved the embattled country’s flag after the tree was lit on Nov. 29. Photo Dean Moses
December
The knife used to killed four family members and inure two cops in Queens on Dec. 3. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell NYPD emergency services units shot an armed man who had barricaded himself inside a Lower East Side apartment on Dec. 14. Photo by Dean Moses The subway slasher accused of randomly attacking Brooklyn straphangers over the last several days warned the public on Dec. 7 to be “very” afraid of him as he was taken away in cuffs. Patric Anderson, 31, is accused of going on an indiscriminate rampage inside the Brooklyn subway system. According to police sources, Anderson allegedly slashed a 38-year-old woman on the right leg at around 11:50 p.m. on the mezzanine of the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station. While the victim was transferred to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital where she is expected to recover, Anderson fled the scene. It is not clear what led to the attack. Photo by Dean Moses A partial building collapse in the Bronx on Monday afternoon resulted in no deaths or serious injuries after firefighters combed the rubble for hours looking for possible survivors, FDNY officials said Monday evening. Photo by Dean Moses Firefighters work to knock down a harrowing three-alarm blaze that broke out in Gowanus on Dec. 21. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell A teen was arrested feet from where another was shot earlier that same night on Dec. 21, leaving the girl to caller her mother. Photo by Dean Moses