Here at The Common, we’re all about place, so we’ve been experimenting with more ways for readers to experience the locations of our pieces. Using this map, you can explore all the dispatches we’ve published set in New York City. Get to know Eli the Seltzer Man, the nighthawks on the Upper West Side, and more!
ALFREDO AGUILAR
Before the uproar in California about undocumented immigrants— / Before miles of border, that included the park, became militarized— / Only a simple barbed wire fence separated the two countries— / And anyone could meet there under the watch of the Border Patrol. / But I do know that every Sunday near noon a mass is held there.
GRIFFIN LESSELL
We arrive at night, landing at West Palm International, still wearing jeans and fleece jackets as we step into the Florida night and walk to the taxi stand through air softened by warmth and humidity.
SOFIA BELIMOVA
After the rain, we get slices / of the grey and yellow world / which slip through the earnest bunches of acorns / in sheets of diffuse, papery light. / To the west of campus simple houses / propagate drifts of dust and applewood in the dusk. / Creaking floorboards in an upstairs room