Ben Fractenberg
Ben is a visual producer for THE CITY. He previously worked at the Forward as a national political reporter and DNAinfo as a New York City-based reporter/photographer. He is a proud alumnus of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
It started with the inauguration of Mayor Eric Adams and a tragic fire in The Bronx and saw historic labor actions and a blistering election along the way.
See shells journey from dinner plates to docks as environmentalists and restaurateurs use mollusks to boost local ecology.
Fifteen victims of the Twin Parks Towers Northwest blaze were honored with a traditional Muslim funeral prayer on Sunday, a week after the deadly fire killed 17. Some attending demanded action to improve housing.
Eric Adams was elected mayor in a campaign season filled with plenty to hear — and see.
For many, 2021 began with renewed hope as the vaccination campaign ramped up and the city slowly reopened. The surging Delta variant, and later, Omicron, complicated the effort.
Hugs and hopes for a tourism boom greet the arrival of the first flights following the reopening of U.S. airports to visitors from 33 countries, from China to Brazil to the U.K.
“We need these playgrounds fixed,” he said after THE CITY reported more than one in 10 NYCHA playgrounds are shuttered because of unsafe conditions. Mayoral candidate Eric Adams called for swift repairs. But residents remained skeptical.
The Canyon of Heroes march from the Battery to City Hall honored health care workers, transit workers, food deliverers and other essential workers who kept the city going during the pandemic. It marked New York’s first ticker-tape salute since 2019.
The Department of Correction stopped visitation last spring at the beginning of the pandemic. Now family and friends of detainees are returning under a new system.