Paint-splattered revellers take a break at the Notting Hill carnival in West London in the last decade of August 2022. (Photo by Andy Hall/The Observer)

Belgian Fran Vanhoutte celebrates as she crosses the finish line at the finals of the women's 500m +D speed skating event, at the World Games 2025, in Chenghdu, China, on Thursday 14 August 2025. This year, the World Games take place from 7 to 17 August. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Uruguay's Julia Paternain reacts after crossing the finish line to win the bronze medal in the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Sunday, September 14, 2025. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

British singer and actress Lily Allen attends the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on November 3, 2025. (Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP Photo)

Sweden's Sweden's Henrik von Eckermann, riding King Edward, during the Equestrian Team Jumping finals, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, August 2, 2024, in Versailles, France. (Photo by Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo)

New York City is populated with millions of people that each serve as an essential piece of the city's eclectic pie. The Big Apple's offering of unique and diverse individuals is arguably unmatched. We always hear about what a melting pot this immense metropolis is with its endless supply of quirky characters and the ongoing photo series known as Humans of New York proves it.

Dotty, a short-haired pointer belonging to Simon Kirby MP, devours a Parliament shaped cake watched by a jack russell Maximus (L) owned by Matthew Offord MP during the Westminster Dog of The Year competition in Victoria Tower Gardens on October 13, 2011 in London, England. The annual competition was won by Conservative MP for Tiiverton and Honiton Neil Parish with his Labrador Wilberforce, who was among the 15 Conservative MPs to enter versus only two Labour MP entrants. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A demonstrator is carried during a rally in support of a identity check draft law and against delinquency, in Santiago, Chile April 30, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Vera/Reuters)