Bronx Memorial by Gianna Giuliano

            It is not uncommon to see a memorial pop up on the streets of New York City, especially in the Bronx. I saw this one from the window of the ram van, not far away from campus. It is a fairly large memorial site that was set up for a young man named Lenny.  I found this one particularly interesting as it has the expected candles, flowers and signs, but it also has a large amount of empty alcohol bottles, which brought me to think what the significance of them could be.

            Upon looking at the memorial site, it is clear that the person who passed and likely his family or friends who set up the memorial for him were some sect of Christianity. Aside from the fact that there are crosses on the written sign, in general setting up memorials such as this one is a tradition of Christianity. It is a way for the people of the religion to both mourn their loved ones and to remember them. It is a public display showing respect for the deceased.

            This memorial in particular consisted of a majority of blue and white candles.  In the Christian religion, blue tends to be a color representing the sky and in relation to the sky, heaven. At the place of remembrance for the passing of a person, this makes sense. His loved ones choice of the blue candles could be seen as a way to display that he has gone to heaven. As for the white candles, white has a meaning of innocence, purity and holiness. The white candles placed at this memorial therefore make this site seem pure and peaceful. In death, the man Lenny is remembered with peace and holiness.

            The center of the memorial site appears to be the most religious while the back of it is the most personal. In the center is a heart made out of candles with religious artifacts placed on top of the heart. There is a rosary, a figurine of an angel and what appears to be a cross made out of palms. Each of these items has a symbolic meaning to those of the Christian faith. Since these items are on this memorial, it shows that the people involved hold their religion close to them and want God to be a part of the honoring of Lenny’s death. The numerous bottles of alcohol towards the back of the site can be interpreted in many ways. I personally interpreted in one particular way. I view the bottles as a way of saying we are mourning your loss Lenny, but we are also celebrating your life. Alcohol is typically used as a drink of celebration, and therefore placing the empty bottles at the memorial is like saying, "we drank these in honor of you and your life."

            Whoever created this Bronx memorial for the man who passed away ensured that there were aspects of religion to commemorate his death as well as a personal touch to add more meaning to the area. It shows that Lenny was highly respected and loved and that he was a believer of God.