{"id":87922,"date":"2025-12-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=87922"},"modified":"2025-12-23T14:22:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:22:23","slug":"best-photos-long-beach-post-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/see\/best-photos-long-beach-post-2025","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach’s most dramatic scenes, memorable moments and beautiful frames this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been a tumultuous year, with more than its share of grief and uncertainty, but through it all, there were so many moments of bravery, kindness and undeniable beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We documented our portion of it here in Long Beach, and we’ll be back to do it again next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click on any photo to read more about the story behind it. And support independent, community-focused journalism like this by giving to our nonprofit newsroom at LBPost.com\/donate<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kevin Kemp and his wife, Christy, stand in the garage as the new owners of East Long Beach Brake Service in Long Beach on Monday, May 12, 2025. The century-old auto shop was at risk of closing until they fell in love with it. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Soccer practice continued after a small plane crashed at Heartwell Park on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. The aircraft crashed into a woman, seriously injuring her, as it made an emergency landing at the park, northeast of Long Beach Airport. Heartwell Park is a hub for youth sports most weeknights, with hundreds of people enjoying the park\u2019s 122.5 acres. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Erica Uzca is backstage as she prepares for a rehearsal with the Long Beach Symphony for the Classical Series program titled Beethoven & Beyond at the Long Beach Terrace Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Longshoremen clear the pier as shipping containers fall off the vessel Mississippi in Long Beach on Sept. 9, 2025.
An estimated 95 shipping containers fell off the vessel that day. The apparent accident happened just before 9 a.m. at the Pier G container terminal. The vessel had arrived from China, according to online vessel trackers. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Federal agents deployed flash-bangs and gas on a protester who approached them in Paramount on Saturday, June 7, 2025. The protest erupted after community groups spread the word that Border Patrol agents were using a business park as a staging ground. The event, at the beginning of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles County, became a national flashpoint with major implications, including the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lev Kim and Mikey Loco, co-owners, stand outside their newly opened pizza restaurant, the Dirty Pepperoni, in Downtown Long Beach on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2025. Kim and Loco are behind the swirled marble floors, motorcycle headlights that illuminate the dining area, and fanatically tested pizza dough at their new restaurant: Dirty Pepperoni. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A protester runs across the street as federal agents shoot pepper balls and flash bangs at demonstrators after they gathered because of reports of an immigration raid in Paramount on Saturday, June 7, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Flames shoot upward out of the attic of a home as a firefighter takes a saw to the roof of a home on Second Street in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood. Long Beach on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Emmanuel Rojas, Conducting Fellow, turns a page of music while sitting in the audience, following along with the Long Beach Symphony during a rehearsal for the Classical Series program titled Beethoven & Beyond at the Long Beach Terrace Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Famed Long Beach muralist Dave Van Patten stands in one of two drive-thrus that he painted at the new Raising Cane’s restaurant in Long Beach, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Brandon and Carolina Hernandez Perez stand at the spot where their 3-year-old son was fatally struck by a vehicle in Long Beach, on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. Police say Noah Hernandez Perez ran onto Artesia Boulevard near Rose Avenue around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Paramedics rushed the small boy to the hospital, but he soon died from his injuries. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The community gathered for a vigil for the 3-year-old boy who ran into the street and was fatally struck by a vehicle in Long Beach on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rep. Robert Garcia held a press conference on his recent trip to El Salvador in Long Beach on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Garcia returned from the country and demanded the release of a wrongfully deported man. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sivan Silver, part of the Silver-Garburg Piano Duo, performs during a rehearsal with the Long Beach Symphony in their Classical Series, Beethoven & Beyond, at the Long Beach Terrace Theatre on Thursday, October 30, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A man clings to his hat as strong winds pick up due to a rainstorm while walking along the beach trail near Veterans Memorial Pier in Long Beach on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A puddle reflects a pedestrian on Pine Avenue as a rainstorm passes through Long Beach on Friday, March 14, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Cold Moon rises in the northeast over Signal Hill on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. The Cold Moon is the traditional name for the full moon in December, which coincides with the onset of winter. The official date for the Cold Moon was Dec. 4, as this photo was taken on Dec. 3. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Storm clouds gather over the Queen Mary at the Port of Long Beach on Monday, November 17, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Federal agents maintained their position against protesters as smoke drifted by in Paramount on Saturday, June 7, 2025. Violent confrontations erupted following reports of an immigration raid near a local Home Depot. The standoff lasted for hours, with multiple Border Patrol agents donning gas masks and helmets forming a line opposite the demonstrators. Some protesters tried to disrupt the operation, rushing to the area to join the growing crowd. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jesse Abrego reaches for a bag of oatmeal as he picks out his groceries for the day at the Christian Outreach in Action food bank in Long Beach on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. As SNAP benefits falter, Long Beach confronts crushing food demand with lines out the door, countless first-time families and emergency distribution centers, pantries and churches consider how long they can keep people fed. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tito Rodriguez arrives at Food Finders, a food bank in Los Alamitos, with his nonprofit van from the Local Hearts Foundation to pick up food for distribution to local immigrant families on Thursday, June 12, 2025. At that time, Tito Rodriguez’s inbox was flooded with messages, all conveying the same urgent plea: Help. These messages painted a vivid picture of the fear gripping thousands of undocumented families. Leaving home \u2014 even for essential items like medicine, bread, or baby formula \u2014 could lead to a confrontation with immigration agents actively pursuing Donald Trump\u2019s deportation agenda in Long Beach and Los Angeles. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cece, a 30-year-old tortoise, makes her way across the campus at Great Beginnings Preschool in Long Beach, Tuesday, July 30, 2025. The tortoise is one of two at the preschool, which was scheduled to close after nearly 50 years in Long Beach until a local couple stepped in to save it. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Chef Gabriel Pulido is reflected in a cup of cafe de olla while at his restaurant Masa y Taza in Long Beach, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These are the photos that captured something about 2025 and stuck with us all year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":87868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32366],"tags":[32374],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2771],"class_list":["post-87922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-see","tag-top-photos-of-the-year","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87922"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87952,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87922\/revisions\/87952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87922"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=87922"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=87922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}