CHICAGO — The city has gone through a year like none other, and its residents have faced it with resilience. Block Club Chicago’s team has covered it all — from the onslaught of Operation Midway Blitz to the glimmers of joy in every corner of Chicago.
See the photos that shaped the year, from Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Our best photos from 2025:
Walter King Jr. — The Spellbinder — poses for a portrait at Chicago Magic Lounge, 5050 N. Clark St., in Andersonville on Nov. 5, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Spellbinder The Illusionist Goes Viral With Magic Act, Lands West Sider A Chicago Residency
Border Patrol agents smash a car window to detain a person during an immigration raid in at the Home Depot Evanston, 2201 Oakton St., on Dec. 17, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Bovino Leads Caravan Through Chicago Before Clashing With Evanston Mayor
Tear gas is deployed as dozens of protesters gather at the entrance of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 19, 2025. Credit: Audrey Richardson for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Agents Tear Gas, Detain Demonstrators Outside Broadview ICE Facility During Friday Protest
Ruben Torres Maldonado greets his partner Sandibell Hidalgo, son Nathan, and daughter Ofelia for the first time since federal agents detained him during an immigration raid earlier this month in Chicago on Thursday October 30, 2025. Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Teen Cancer Patient Reunites With Father After His Release From ICE Detention
Matt Jonkman poses for a portrait aboard his catamaran power boat anchored off the wall near Navy Pier on Lake Michigan on Sept. 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Man Living On Boat Near Navy Pier Since April Heads South For Winter: ‘I Don’t Want To Get Off Yet’
Agents deploy smoke bombs at 105th and Avenue N on Chicago’s East Side during a clash with residents on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Matthew Kaplan for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Southeast Siders Unite To Fight ICE After Feds Cause Crash, Tear-Gas Their Neighborhood
Read more: Federal Agents Cause Crash, Tear Gas Protesters On Southeast Side Street
Member of the cast, band and crew of the Blue Man Group Chicago perform “A Funeral for the Blue Man” in protest on Jan. 6, 2025 near the Briar St. Theater in Lakeview following the show’s recent end. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: A Funeral For The Blue Man Group: Chicago Says Farewell To Iconic Performance Troupe
Yohei Yamada looks for a lost car key underneath John Valentino’s boat in 31st Street Harbor on July 29, 2025, in Chicago. Credit: Audrey Richardson/for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Lost Something In Lake Michigan? This Chicago Scuba Diver Will Find It For You
Members of the Texas National Guard walk around at the Joliet Local Training Area in Elwood, Ill. on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. Credit: Talia Sprague/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s National Guard Mobilization To Chicago
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan arrives to the Dirksen Federal Courthouse ahead of his sentencing on June 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Michael Madigan Sentenced To 7 ½ Years In Prison, Fined $2.5 Million
Federal agents force people back as they detain several people at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office, 2245 S. Michigan Ave., in South Loop on June 4, 2025. Credit: Sebastián Hidalgo for Block Club Chicago
Read more: ICE Mass Arrest Sparks Chaos In South Loop As Activists Fight To Disrupt Operation
Isiah, Isaiah and Ibrion splash in the water at Humboldt Park Beach as Chicago faced an Excessive Heat Warning on June 23, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Near-Record Temperatures Could Hit Chicago Monday As Brutal Heat Wave Continues
Olivia Rodrigo performs during the second day of Lollapalooza at Grant Park on Aug. 1, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Lolla Day 3: Special Appearance By Chance The Rapper, Doechii Rocks The Crowd
Victor Hilitski, freelance photojournalist for Block Club Chicago, tandem jumps over Chicago with the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team on Aug. 17, 2025. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Local Lens: Leaping From 12,500 Feet With The Golden Knights At Chicago Air And Water Show
People set off fireworks in Chinatown on July 4, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: PHOTOS: Rogue 4th Of July Fireworks Light Up Chicago’s Skies
Jared Donalson does a pushup competition with a young fan during the game. Credit: Zoe D Davis for Block Club Chicago
Read more: White Sox Legends Relive Glory Days With Savannah Bananas: ‘This Is Awesome For Baseball’
Jessica Thurmond, a student at North Lawndale College Prep, curls her classmate Jada Ervin’s hair at school on March 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: West Side Teen Went Viral For Doing Hair In School Bathroom. Now, She Wants A Salon Of Her Own
Women dance in the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade in Little Village on Sept. 14, 2025. Credit: Anastasia Busby/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Little Village’s Mexican Independence Day Parade Sees Thousands Take A Stand Against ICE
A protester is hit in the head by a pepper ball as they lob a tear gas canister that was fired by federal agents back during a protest near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at 1930 Beach St. in Broadview, Ill. on Sept. 26, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Feds Tear Gas, Shoot Rubber Bullets At Protesters Outside Broadview ICE Facility Again
Derrick Rose, former Chicago Bulls point guard, played in an alumni and student basketball game at Simeon Career Academy in Chatham on Jan. 3, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Derrick Rose Returns To Simeon Basketball Court With His Son For Alumni Game
A few hundred gather in the Loop to protest the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Hundreds Brave Extreme Cold Downtown To Protest Trump Inauguration
Several businesses in Pilsen closed on Feb. 3, 2025, “A Day Without Immigrants” to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Credit: Francia Garcia Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Read more: On ‘A Day Without Immigrants,’ Chicago Restaurants And Shops Close To Protest Trump’s Policies
Hundreds gathered along Wentworth Avenue for the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade on Feb. 9, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: PHOTOS: Lunar New Year Parade Celebrates Year Of The Snake
Disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich holds a 9 p.m. press conference at his Ravenswood Manor home following his pardon by President Donald Trump on Feb. 10, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Trump Grants Rod Blagojevich Full Pardon 5 Years After Releasing Him From Prison
Collaboraction staff, performers and local community leaders celebrate the its ceremonial groundbreaking event highlighting the company’s new home at the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Ave. on Feb. 13, 2025. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Collaboraction Theatre Company’s Arts Hub Eyes Spring Opening Inside Kimball Arts Center
City workers remove shelters at Gompers Park on the Northwest side of Chicago on Friday February 21, 2025. Police stand guard as activists and unhoused people stand by watching shelters being removed from the park. Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
Read more: City Destroys Yurts, Arrests Tent Resident In Gompers Park — Weeks Before Housing Help Set To Arrive
Some of the sexual assault survivors banding together to speak up about their attacks in Logan Square — which date back to at least 2022 and remain unsolved — pose for a group photo from the back in the neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Hundreds Pack Logan Square Police Meeting Seeking Answers On Sexual Assault Cases
Hundreds of people gather during The Chicago International Women’s Rally and March in front of the Trump Tower in Chicago on March 8, 2025. Credit: Addison Annis/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicagoans Mark International Women’s Day With Anti-Trump March Through Downtown
A Tesla SUV is given a parking ticket as protesters holding anti-Tesla and anti-Elon Musk signs stand outside of the Tesla show room at 901 N. Rush st, in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago on Saturday March 8 2025. Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicagoans Ditch Their Teslas To Protest Elon Musk: ‘Nobody Wants To Buy Them’
Grant DePorter, CEO and owner of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group, picks up a baseball used in the 1919 World Series on display at the Chicago Sports Museum in the Water Tower Place along the Mag Mile on March 12, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Can Moving This 1919 ‘Black Sox’ Baseball Save The White Sox?
The Chicago River is dyed green by members of the Chicago Plumbers Union, Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, on March 15, 2025 in downtown Chicago. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago River Dyed Green For St. Patrick’s Day 2025
Devon Shelton, #20, Ahmari Taylor, #3, and Rickey Coleman, #4, hang out in the gymnasium at Walter H. Dyett High School for the Arts, 555 W. 51st St., in Washington Park on March 20, 2025. The school’s boys basketball team won the 2A state championship this season. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: 10 Years After Hunger Strikers Saved Dyett High School, Boys Basketball Team Wins State Title
Crews conduct a prescribed burn at Carl R. Hansen Woods on March 25, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Read more: Prescribed Burns Were Banned 3 Decades Ago. Now, Cook County Is A Leader In Urban Burning
The dessert — featuring work by DTK, Frame Chicago and artist Mia Lee — at Esmé, 2200 N. Clark St., in Lincoln Park on March 27, 2025. The restaurant is collaborating with Frame Chicago and local artists for their latest tasting menu, “Table For Six.” Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Esmé’s ‘Table for Six’ Tasting Menu Brings Local Artists And Chefs Together
Ericka, Enye and Akira celebrate after Ericka knocked down pins at Skyway Bowl, 9915 S. Torrence Ave., in Jeffrey Manor on March 31, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Skyway Lanes Will Stay Open After Chicagoans Step Up To Save City’s Last Black-Owned Bowling Alley
Roasted coffee beans are poured at Tasa Coffee Roasters, 4136 W. North Ave., in West Humboldt Park on April 9, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago Coffee Shops Raise Prices As Trump Tariffs Already Lead To More Expensive Beans
Police officers detain a teenager in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Credit: Addison Annis/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Teens At Hyde Park ‘Takeover’ Say They’re Just Hanging With Friends — But 4 Arrested In Scuffles
Corniki Bornds drapes her arm around Darrell Townes at a vigil for Chicago crime survivors to mourn loved ones and call for public safety solutions at Grace Memorial Baptist Church in North Lawndale on April 12, 2025. Credit: Jesus J. Montero for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Crime Victims Gather To Mourn Loved Ones Lost To Violence: ‘You Can’t Grieve Alone’
Sena, 22-months-old, spends time with his parents under the cherry blossoms trees at the Columbia Basin in Jackson Park on April 14, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Jackson Park Cherry Blossoms Are Finally Back After 2-Year Hiatus
Scabby the rat is set up as the Chicago Fire Fighters Local 2 union rallies with the Chicago Teachers Union for a contract before a City Council meeting on April 16, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Firefighters Union Reaches Tentative Deal With Mayor’s Office After 4 Years Of Contract Negotiations
Shawn Rogers, the owner and founder, spreads mushrooms while preparing on a pizza at Cowabunga Pizza Pies in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago on Friday, April 18, 2025. Credit: Vincent Alban for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Bridgeport’s Cowabunga Pizza Pies Serves Up Ninja Turtles-Themed Slices, ’90s Nostalgia
Marty Kaleta, artist, is held upside down by friends Shawn Miller, Kaz Chevas and Ryan Ohm as dozens gather to celebrate the unveiling of the plaque which recognizes the urinals at Skylark, 2149 S. Halsted St., as “the oldest known urinals in Chicago” in Pilsen on April 24, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Skylark Celebrates Chicago’s Oldest-Known Urinals With Brass Plaque And Ceremony
Firefighters prepare the American flag before the funeral for fallen Chicago Fire Department Captain David Meyer at Saint John Brebeuf Parish, 8305 N. Harlem Ave., in Niles, Ill. on April 29, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Fire Capt. David Meyer Honored As ‘Legendary Firefighter, A True Friend’ At Funeral
Ken Ellis, longtime bouncer and bartender, poses for a portrait at Rainbo Club, 1150 N. Damen Ave., in West Town on April 30, 2025 ahead of the bar’s 40th year. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: How Rainbo Club Bartender And Artist Ken Ellis Became A ‘Wicker Park Icon’
Two empty lots stretch across 7150-52 S. Normal Blvd. in Englewood on May 6, 2025, their debris cleared by the Department of Streets and Sanitation a day earlier. Officials said the owner failed to comply with a May 2 order to remove vehicles, fencing, tarps and other materials. Credit: Jesus J. Montero for Block Club Chicago
Read more: City Clears Illegal Englewood Junkyard Of Cars, Debris Weeks After Filing Lawsuit
Sharon Latham and Doug Latham speak to documentary filmmakers at the closed St. Mary of the Assumption parish in Chicago, IL near the suburb Dolton on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Newly elected pope Leo XIV used to attend the church. Credit: Andrew Burke-Stevenson for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Peek Inside The Vacant South Side Church Where Pope Leo XIV Got His Start
Leonarda Ocampo looks on in her home in Dunning on May 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Some Call It The ‘Death Hospital’: Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems
FBI agents walk outside the home of Elias Rodriguez on Thursday May 22, 2025. Federal law enforcement officials said Rodriguez shot and killed two Israeli Embassy employees outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. the night before. He was arrested shortly after the shooting. Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
Read more: FBI Raids Albany Park Home Of Elias Rodriguez, Suspect In Israeli Embassy Workers Shooting
The artists whose works chosen for display along 53rd and 55th street viaducts in Hyde Park celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the refreshed “viaduct galleries” during an outdoor ceremony on May 22, 2025. In the background is Kayla Mahaffey’s “Head in the Clouds.” Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Hyde Park ‘Viaduct Galleries’ Refreshed With 19 Works From New Wave Of Artists
Shakira headlines during the first day of Sueños Music Festival in Grant Park on May 24, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: At Sueños Music Festival, Thousands Put Latino Pride On Full Display: ‘I Have To Represent’
Teddy Wachholz looks down to the new shuffleboard court at the Senior Citizen Memorial Park in Chicago on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Credit: Addison Annis/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Bucktown’s Long-Neglected Shuffleboard Court Restored And Open To All
Students display their art in the Expression from the Inside art program class inside Major Adams Community Committee at 125 N. Hoyne Ave. on May 28. Credit: Michael Liptrot/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Mothers Of Gunshot Victims Find Solace In Art Classes Led By Joakim Noah’s Mom
Supporters form a barricade around the Beverly Library entrance to prevent protestors from interfering with the drag story time event on June 3, 2025. Credit: Layla Brown-Clark/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Drag Story Time At Beverly Library Sees Protesters — But Even More Supporters
A tagger sprays graffiti on a police vehicle during a protest in response to ICE raids on June 10, 2025. Credit: Noah Asimow/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Thousands Of Chicagoans Take To The Streets To Protest ICE Raids, Trump Immigration Policies
Lucas Knudsen, 11, from Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Lakeview, attends the celebration of Pope Leo XIV at Rate Field Saturday, June 14, 2025. Credit: Heidi Zeiger for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Pope Leo XIV Shares Message Of Hope With Chicago Catholics At Rate Field
Motorcyclists at the 47th Annual Puerto Rican People’s Day Parade, hosted by the Puerto Rican Cultural Center on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Humboldt Park. Credit: Peyton Reich/Block Club Chicago
Read more: PHOTOS: Humboldt Park’s Puerto Rican People’s Parade And Festival
A Chicago Police officer begins to grab a protester as officers forcefully clear the street following the No Kings rally, near the local ICE field office on Ida B. Wells Drive Saturday, June 14, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: PHOTOS: ‘No Kings’ Rally In Chicago Draws Thousands To The Loop
Read more: Chicago’s ‘No Kings’ March Brings Massive Crowds Downtown To Protest Trump
One of Imani and Sea Rocket’s three piping plovers chicks at Montrose Beach in Uptown, as seen on June 23, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: 3 Piping Plover Chicks Hatch At Montrose Beach
People line up before the funeral for fallen Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera at Living Word Christian Center, 7600 Roosevelt Rd., in Forest Park on June 25, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Hundreds Pack Funeral For Slain Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera: ‘She Gave Everything’
Olivia Santelli, founder of the Rise Pilates Club, leads a pilates class at sunrise on Oak Street Beach in Chicago, Friday, June 27, 2025. The class, open to all ages and genders, drew a diverse group of attendees who spread out on yoga mats next to the lake. Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago
Read more: From 12 People To 4,000: How A Free Pilates Class Took Over Oak Street Beach
Marchers carry anti-ICE and pro-Palestine signs and banners during the 54th annual Chicago Pride Parade in Lakeview on June 29, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: At Pride Parade, Chicagoans Show Support For LGBTQ+ Community: ‘It’s More Important Than Ever’
Pit crew members cheer after Shane Van Gisbergen (88) wins during the Grant Park 165 race of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in Grant Park on July 6, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Shane Van Gisbergen Sweeps NASCAR Chicago Street Race As Event’s Future Remains Uncertain
Classmates cheer out “Long Live Marjay” as family and friends gather to remember Marjay Dotson at his funeral at Healing Temple Church of God in Christ, 4941 W. Chicago Ave. in Austin on July 9, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: West Side Honors Life Of Marjay Dotson, The ‘Playful, Loving’ Teen Killed By Lifeguard At Douglass Park
Ald. Peter Chico (10th) calls for more city and state enforcement and attention to odors emanating from Pullman Innovations during a July 9, 2025 press conference across the street from the facility, 2701 E. 100th St. in South Deering. Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club Chicago
Read more: South Side Neighbors Demand City, State Step Up Enforcement At Stench-Filled Oil Plant
Negwes White, a grass dancer from the Ojibway & Navaho tribes, performs during the July 11, 2025 blessing of the Irving Park development site. Elected officials, the developer and community members watch the ceremonial dance that originates among the plain’s tribes. Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Indigenous Leaders Bless Irving Park Land For City’s 1st Affordable Housing For Native Americans
Walter Redmond Burnett stands for a portrait beneath the Lake Street “L” tracks in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago on July 11, 2025. His father, Walter Burnett, Chicago’s longest-tenured alderman and current vice mayor, recently announced he will resign at the end of July; Walter Redmond Burnett is widely expected to be considered for the appointment to replace him. Credit: Jamie Kelter Davis for Block Club Chicago
Read more: ‘Call Me Red’: Walter Burnett’s Son Wants His Own Legacy As Alderman
Crews have begun demolition at the Damen Silos, 2860 S. Damen Ave., in Lower West Side as seen on July 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago’s All-Girls Baseball Team, Full Of Barrier-Breaking High School Stars, Heads To Nationals
The Jessie White Tumblers perform during the “4th Inning Stretch” during the Alders vs. Knights Charity Softball Game at Kerry Wood Field on July 20, 2025. Credit: Zoe Davis for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Alderpeople Vs. Chicago Cops In 16-Inch Softball: ‘This Is The Best We’ve Gotten Along All Year’
Cherise Irving, 63, meets her father Rev. William “Chico” Higgins, 89, for the first time at Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 5 on July 24, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Surprising Ancestry.com Discovery Brings Together Father, Daughter After 63 Years
Yanni De La Fuente, 6, listens to T-Pain with her aunt, Gabby Sanchez at Lollapalooza in Grant Park on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. Credit: Audrey Richardson for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Lolla Day 2: Chicago’s Star Bandz Commands The Stage At 17
Dancers perform in sync during the 96th edition of the Bud Billiken Parade, the largest Black parade in the country. Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. Credit: Sebastián Hidalgo for Block Club Chicago
Read more: PHOTOS: At 96th Annual Bud Billiken Parade, Black Pride On Full Display
Ivan Kolisnyk consoles his son Miroslav as he cries before his first day in kindergarten at Mary E. Courtenay Language Arts Center, 4420 N. Beacon St., in Uptown on Aug. 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago Public Schools Students Head Back To Class Amid Budget Uncertainty For District
Angel Santiago kisses Bam Bam in their Logan Square home on Aug. 21, 2025, two days after being reunited. Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Bam Bam On The Mend After Health Scare, With Help From His Vet And Love From Chicago
Omar Watson drums with the 63rd St. Beach Drummers perform on Aug. 21, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: 63rd Street Beach Drummers, A Woodlawn Staple For Over 50 Years, Shut Out Of Longtime Space
Wally Eliason mows the green space by the Montrose Blue Line Station as seen on Aug. 22, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Read more: The ‘Mayor Of Mayfair’ Has Been Cleaning Up His Northwest Side Neighborhood For 26 Years
Ashley Jefferson (left) and her child Ariah Black pose for a portrait at Mandrake Park on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 in Chicago, Ill. Black experienced bullying when she attended Pershing Elementary School with some incidents happening at Mandrake Park, a popular meeting spot. Credit: Taylor Glascock for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Bronzeville School Ignored A Year Of Bullying, Forcing Student To Leave, Family Says
Indian Independence Day is celebrated on Devon Avenue west of Western Avenue on Aug. 24, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Olivia Rose Curry spars at Unanimous Boxing Gym, 2764 N. Milwaukee Ave., in Logan Square on Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago’s Olivia Curry Hopes To Be The Female Middleweight Boxing Champion Of The World
Lifelong Cubs fan Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers attends his first game of the season on Sept. 7, 2025. Wickers, who is being treated for a lung disease at The Pearl of Evanston, was joined by his nursing care staff. Credit: Heidi Zeiger / for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Ailing Cubs Superfan Ronnie Woo Woo Makes Triumphant Return To Wrigley With Nursing Team
Ethologist Dr. Jane Goodall looks on at the Lincoln Park Zoo on Sept. 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Jane Goodall Recalls Chicago’s Role In Her Life Of Activism
Friends and family gather for a balloon release at 57th Street Beach in Hyde Park, honoring one-year-old Jream Washington, six-year-old Wyatt Payton, and their mother, who were found dead in Lake Michigan, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. Credit: Audrey Richardson for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Loved Ones Honor Lives Of 2 Young Children, Mom Pulled From Lake With Balloon Release
Fans rage as GWAR, known for their outrageous costumes and theatrical often ‘bloody’ performances, takes the stage during the second day of Riot Fest in Douglass Park on Sept. 20, 2025. Credit: Jesus J. Montero for Block Club Chicago
Read more: ‘Weird Al,’ Rilo Kiley And Alkaline Trio Kick Off Riot Fest’s 20th Year
Hundreds of people plunge into the Chicago River on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, for the first official Chicago River Swim in nearly 100 years. More than 300 qualified swimmers participated in the event, which marks the return of competitive open-water swimming to the river, long a dumping ground for industrial pollution and sewage. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Swimmers Return To Chicago River For 1st Time In A Century, Marking Dramatic Transformation
An apartment unit’s door is seen busted open to a room flooded with water damage at 7500 S. South Shore Drive in South Shore on Oct. 1, 2025. The apartment building was raided by federal agents the morning before. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: ‘It Looks Like Hell’
Thousands descend on Downtown Chicago during the No Kings Day protest on Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Protesters cheer as Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a No Kings Day Protest at Butler Field in Grant Park in Chicago on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Talia Sprague/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago’s Massive No Kings March Stretches 2 Miles Through Loop
Read more: Photos: No Kings Protest Draws Massive March Downtown To Decry Trump
Eddie Guillen washes his eye out after a federal agent pepper sprayed as dozens of neighbors confront federal agents in Cicero just outside Little Village as the agents conduct immigration raids in the area on Oct. 22, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Alderperson’s Staffers — Both US Citizens — Detained By Border Patrol Amid Little Village Raids
The Lake View High School boys cross country team poses for a photo outside their school in Lakeview on Oct. 30, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Lake View High Cross Country Team Fights For State Title As ICE Targets Their Community: ‘We’re Not Hiding’
Protesters clash with Illinois State Police, Broadview Police and Cook County Sheriffs’ Deputies during a “costume party” at the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcment processing facility in Broadview on November 1, 2025. Credit: Arthur Maiorella for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Faith Leaders Again Denied Entry To Broadview ICE Facility, Hold Mass Outside Anyway
Thomas Mills, Police Chief of Broadview, talks with an agent inside the ICE Broadview facility during a prayer gathering nearby on Nov. 7, 2025. Credit: Ronit Bezalel for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Feds Tell Faith Leaders ‘No More Prayer’ Outside Broadview Facility
Read more: Feds Clarify Prayer Ban At Broadview: Restrictions Only Apply On Federal Property
On Monday, Nov. 10, a team of 3 people — James Barbosa, Matthew Plese and Joabe Barbosa — attempted to set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest time to visit every station on the CTA ‘L’ train system. Credit: Victor Hilitski/Block Club Chicago
Read more: 3 Friends Visit Every CTA ‘L’ Stop In 9 Hours In Effort To Set Guinness World Record
Mayor Brandon Johnson arrives for a press conference after a City Council meeting on Nov. 14, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Mayor’s Budget Rejected By Key City Committee Over Controversial Head Tax, Borrowing Plan
A second line musician plays during a parade in the Wrigleyville neighborhood after a memorial service held for the late Tony Fitzpatrick at The Metro in Chicago, on Sunday November 23, 2025. Credit: Jim Vondruska for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Hundreds Pack The Metro — And Lakeview Streets — To Honor Tony Fitzpatrick: ‘Tony Was Chicago’
Rocco and Enzo sled on Cricket Hill as snow falls in Uptown on Dec. 1, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago Sees Snowiest November Day Ever — With More Snow On The Way
Lisa Harris helps students in her Just Bowls class on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. Credit: Jeremy Battle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Ravenswood’s Lillstreet Art Center Celebrates 50 Years As A Home For Artists
Members of the U.S. Coast Guard watch from the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, Chicago’s Christmas Ship, after it docked at Navy Pier on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. Credit: Jeremy Battle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Homeland Security Boss Kristi Noem Met By Protesters At Navy Pier Christmas Charity Event
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st), Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) and Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) look on as Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and other alderpeople speak about an alternative budget to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s after a City Council meeting on Dec. 10, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: With Dueling Budget Proposals, City Council No Closer To Compromise As Shutdown Deadline Looms
Laila Eskin plays guitar amid the crowd as Heet Deth performs at Liar’s Club, 1665 W. Fullerton Ave., in Lincoln Park on Dec. 11, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Read more: Liar’s Club Celebrates 30 Years Of ‘Punk For Good’ As Its Christmas Day Extravaganza Rages On
Members of the Jewish community gather in West Ridge for a Hanukkah car parade with menorahs atop their vehicles on Dec. 15, 2025. Credit: Heidi Zeiger for Block Club Chicago
Read more: Chicago Jews Show Unity With Menorah Parade After Deadly Bondi Beach Shooting
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