“A Bridge, a Stitch, a Compass: A COVID Memorial for the past, present, and future”

Name: “A Bridge, a Stitch, a Compass: A COVID Memorial for the past, present, and future”
Start: 2025-11-02T14:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-11-02T17:00:00-05:00
Location: St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery

: This event has already taken place.Nov. 1, 12 – 5 pm. Nov. 2, 2:30 – 5 pm.

: Free

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, NAMING THE LOST Memorials (NTLM), with City Lore, Mano a Mano and Great Small Works, is completing a five-year project remembering New Yorkers lost to COVID. Since May of 2020, NTLM has worked with over 100 community-based groups to build COVID memorials around New York City. This year is by design the final year of the memorial project. NAMING THE LOST Memorials is funded by the Monuments Project, a special grant-making initiative of the Mellon Foundation.

This last memorial—A Bridge, a Stitch, a Compass: A COVID Memorial for the past, present, and future– will be on view from Friday, October 31 to Thursday, November 13 at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, and will consist of tributes made by three community groups: Archive Based Creative Arts, Inside Change, and Long Covid Justice.

A Bridge, a Stitch, a Compass will be installed on the fence of St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on the 2nd Avenue and 10th street sides. The memorial includes thousands of lights, representing the more than 47,148 New Yorkers who died from COVID-19, according to data from the New York Department of Health as of October 16, 2025.

NTLM presents this memorial as part of Mano a Mano’s annual Día de Muertos Celebration, (https://www.manoamano.nyc/day-of-the-dead-dia-de-muertos-nyc), now in its 20th year at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery. The event takes place on November 1 from 12-4 PM and November 2 from 12-5 PM. It features performances by Juntas Chicas, Cetiliztli Nauhcampa, Nylzher, and Mariachi Hidalgo. Attendance is free, but registration is encouraged.

Naming the Lost will hold a memorial activation with a ceremony that will include a procession, poetry, and music. All are welcome to participate to close the work of remembrance in the five years of this public art project. The public is encouraged to create and add their own nameplates to the memorial. There will be dedicated spaces on the memorial for public participation.