Jonah Markowitz

‘They Witness Deaths on the Tracks and Then Struggle to Get Help’ “After train operators are involved in fatal strikes, the agency that runs New York City’s subway often leaves them to fend for themselves. The fallout from being at the controls when a subway train strikes a person — the panic attacks, the sleepless nights, the crippling guilt — can linger for years. It is a burden that train operators in New York City know well. New York’s subway system is the setting for more train strikes per year than any other system in America. But many other systems make it easier for train drivers to get help afterward, a New York Times examination has found.” Please go to the link in my bio to read the stories of three courageous operators, Edwin Guity, Nioka Baptiste, and Thomas Sellers. Humbled, they trusted me with their stories. Reported and visuals by yours truly. @eve_edelheit , what a journey. You’re a relentless powerhouse, you fought for this in ways I didn’t know possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Michael LaForgia, eternally grateful for taking this on, thank you for believing in it. Big thank you to my fellow reporters @la_ley and @biancapallaro . Bianca, the piece wouldnt have had the heft without your work, thank you!

Dawn To Dusk - Where Bangladeshi Brooklyn Gathers is a love letter to New York City. An ode to the Bangladeshi community of Brooklyn that traveled across the globe and made a neighborhood where they can feel at home. One of the beautiful aspects of this city is that there is a corner for everyone. For Bangladeshi Brooklyn, that corner is Church Ave & McDonald Ave. See link in my bio on a computer for full effect. This project wouldn’t exist without @jfurt . After two years, countless iterations, and sleepless nights, Jeff remained a tireless advocate. The story, the scale, and the edit were all shaped by Jeff. His imperceptible fingerprints are all over the project. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. @diggingplanting and @samirasadeques when you both came on board you pushed this project to new places that proved crucial. Karen thank you for hashing and rehashing this thing and sticking by this story. Deeply grateful I got to work with you on this. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to the community of Kensington for inviting me in. Thank you Sohel, @shahanafrombk , Mir, Motiul, Rubel, Farojan, Annie, Farouk, and the many more who spoke with me. It’s a honor you trusted us with your stories

The Hasidic Jewish community has long operated one of New York’s largest private schools on its own terms, resisting any outside scrutiny of how its students are faring. But in 2019, the school, the Central United Talmudical Academy, agreed to give state standardized tests in reading and math to more than 1,000 students. Every one of them failed. For @nytimes with stellar reporting by Eliza Shapiro and @brianmrosenthal . Super proud to have worked on this phenomenally reported piece with these legends. 1. Students outside oholei torah in crown heights 2. The Central United Talmudical Academy spans an entire city block in Williamsburg. 3.“How is this legal, to let parents not give their children an education?” asked Moishy Klein, who grew up in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and left the Hasidic community a few months ago. 4. UTA Satmar Sect School in Williamsburg 5.“The attitude was constantly that you could get hit,” said Ari Hershkowitz, who went to U.T.A. in Williamsburg. “We were constantly under threat of that.” 6. Back above the fold on A1 in stunning fashion thanks to @jfurt

“She Was Paralyzed by a Subway Train. Today, She’s Reclaiming Her Life. The artist Emine Yilmaz was shoved into a passing subway car three years ago. Six surgeries later, she’s drawing again.” @emineyilmazn thank you for opening up your life to Hurubie and I. Very grateful to have been able to spend so much time with you. @carpediem_hm beautiful work. @eve_edelheit ❤️.

Episode 3 of 3 - Sound on! ‘Pressured to return’ “Nioka Baptiste, 46, had been on the job for about six months when she first saw the man with the light-colored eyes. He looked her in the face before jumping onto the tracks in front of a Q train she was driving under Brooklyn. That was in August 2024. Afterward, she could think of little else. She scanned the internet for clues to his identity and why he might have jumped to his death. Did he leave behind children? Grandchildren? Her nights were sleepless, her waking hours a daze.” Edit @jgarciaspitz Color @lostinamerika Directed / shot by yours truly for @nytimes

Thomas Sellers fears that his first train strike as a subway operator won’t be his last. Mr. Sellers was not squeamish. Before joining the M.T.A., he had worked as an emergency medical technician, and he had encountered car crash injuries, gunshot wounds and even decapitations. But this was different. “I have seen a lot,” said Mr. Sellers, 60. “But I’ve never been directly involved.” Thomas went months without pay after his case handler at the MTA neglected to file the necessary paperwork. It took a judges order to receive his back pay. He has two years left until retirement, and it’s possible that the strike in Queens will be the only time he will ever be involved in such an incident. But part of him fears that will not be the case. “It just seems that once you have one, you might be a magnet for ill fate.”

Episode 2 of 3 - Sound On! Thomas Sellers had been lucky: In 23 years as an operator for the M.T.A., he had never hit a person. But that changed in Queens on March 18, when a man jumped in front of the 7 train Mr. Sellers was driving. Eventually, paramedics were able to save the man’s life, but both his legs were amputated. Thank you to @lostinamerika who colored all three of the films. Beautiful job brother. @jgarciaspitz on the fabulous edit.

‘Part of the job’ Edwin Guity was at the controls of a southbound D train last December, rolling through the Bronx, when suddenly someone was on the tracks in front of him. He couldn’t stop the train time. Stumbling over words, Mr. Guity radioed the dispatcher and then did what the rules require of every train operator involved in such an incident. He got out of the cab and went looking for the person he had struck. He found his mangled body pinned under the 3rd car. “I didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Guity said later. “But this is a part of the job.” A 32-year-old who had once lived in a family shelter with his parents, he viewed the job as paying well and offering a rare chance at upward mobility. It also helped cover the costs of his family’s groceries and rent in the three-bedroom apartment they shared in Brooklyn. He helps care for his 93 year old grandmother who suffers from sporadic seizures. Please watch my previous post, a 90 second film we made chronicling Edwin’s exposure therapy, to understand his experience more deeply.

SOUND ON - Edwin Guity was prescribed exposure therapy after his train struck a man on the tracks. The experience had shaken him more than perhaps any other experience in his life, and the idea of returning to work left him feeling paralyzed. @jgarciaspitz did all of the video edits on this project. Wildly talented. He put these together beautifully. Thank you brother. Umi Syam! I am so grateful that you landed on this project. The custom design you worked so hard on is the perfect vessel for the project. It’s treats the visuals so respectfully, I’m in awe. Truly. Thank you @umisyam

Mamdani and @thekidmero at last night’s Knicks game then again at a sunrise Brooklyn bridge march with Brad Lander and Letitia James. Election coverage bender continues for @nytimes .

𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 ‘27… Jonah Markowitz @jonahmarkowitz is an independent photographer and filmmaker born, raised, and based in Brooklyn, New York. For the past decade, he has worked across editorial and portrait photography. He tries to create images that resonate on a visceral level—reminding us of our shared humanity.

“When They Go Home After Working All Day, It’s Not to a Home Thousands of working people in New York City now live in shelters, unable to afford apartments despite holding down jobs that pay them $50,000 or more. The saddest thing I’ve seen is that people are getting priced out of New York City so badly that they are not even moving out of the city,” said Mr. Sancho-Persad, 30. “They are just getting evicted and coming to live in the shelter.” Mr Sancho-Persad’s (photographed above) family had been climbing the economic ladder for years before the illnesses struck and swept their financial security right out from under them. In 2016, his mom was diagnosed with cancer, and in 2017, his father passed away. His prized possession is his father’s 1980s Toyota Cressida. It’s the only thing left from his father’s lifetime of toiling as a taxi driver on the New York City streets. “New York City is becoming more for the wealthy, and I don’t think that’s going to end well,” Mr. Sancho-Persad said. “You know why? Poor people make this city go.” I’m very grateful to have worked with Eliza Shapiro on this story, which is truly heart-wrenching. @eve_edelheit , thank you for trusting me with this one. This city I love so much is eating itself, and it needs to be documented. Thank you also for the time to do justice to this story and the lovely edit.