Whether you made an appointment to be there or stumbled upon it and stayed, Gansevoort Plaza (Gansevoort St. & 9th Ave.) was the place to be on Saturday, April 13. That’s when the Meatpacking District’s large and lively public plaza saw a new tradition set in stone—cobblestone, actually—as the second annual Return of the Red Umbrellas brought the titular nine-feet-tall, 11-feet-wide crimson-colored canopies back from winter storage. They arrived just in time to prove that for all the talk about their “neighborhood icon” status, these humble bumbershoots were quick to return to their roots by shielding celebrants from the occasional light rainfall.

Drizzle didn’t dampen spirits, however, as attractions and activities cropped up along the Plaza’s 13,500 square feet of public space. As organized by the Meatpacking’s District’s BID (Business Improvement District), the offerings included complimentary coffee from Terremoto Coffee; a workshop from The Old Yew Plant Shop that allowed participants to create, plant, and take home their very own plant & pot combination; giveaways from the Whitney including tickets to the Museum and 2024 Biennial; complimentary Steak, Egg, + Pancake Bites from STK Steakhouse; music throughout the day; and, at the end of the day, a performance from Graham2, a dance company that draws from the Martha Graham School’s most advanced students.

Drawing from all of those featured elements—and more—is the below collection of photos taken by Jim Fryer and Iri Greco of BrakeThrough Media, longtime still photography documentarians of the Meatpacking District BID’s annual events.–By Scott Stiffler