One of my true loves in the city

Bryant Park in the Summa time!

Dogs of the Week

I passed this big guy on the Upper East side. I bet his view of the city is a little different than most.



This little guy lives in my neighborhood and I pass him on the walk to work. Some would call this haircut animal abuse.

A Homeless City

I don't like homeless people.
I just don't. I'm not going to apologize for it. I know its wrong and I should love and care for others, but one of my weaknesses is loving the homeless. I don't want to get close to them because I feel most of them suffer from mental illness that I don't want to get involved with. I also feel a portion of them choose to live that way. Homeless people scare me. I have never given them money and when I walk past them, I avoid eye contact at all cost. I have only given food to a homeless person one time and that was only because I knew if I didn't give it away I would eat it and I didn't want the added calories.

I'm not saying I'm right; I am just explaining why I feel this way. I do give money to my Church's homeless organization and I belong to a knitting club that knits scarves for the homeless. Those are the small things I do to contribute from a distance.

In the City, you get to "know" the homeless people you pass every day. I know that if I pass Grand Central Station on the east side of the street I will pass a larger woman wearing a long skirt and a baggy t-shirt asking for, "a quarter for a burger," outside the Wendys.

I know in east midtown, on Park avenue I will see the "luggage guy", who stands all day with his boxes wrapped in colored duct tape. He is probably one of the cleaner homeless men. He usually has his hair cut and his gray beard is normally tamed. He is harmless and just stands with his boxes all day watching people pass. He has made handles for his boxes made of the tape. A couple times a year he will find new tape and re-wrap all his boxes. I often wonder what is in all the boxes and more importantly what he is waiting for.

I know every morning on 49th street between Madison and 5th, a homeless man with matted long hair and wearing green pants that are too big will be stumbling around outside the Au Bon Pain. He won't ask for money..he just stands and looks at the pastries through the window. I have seen people give him food from inside the deli but he usually stares at it like he doesn't understand what to do with it or why they gave it to him. Every now and then he will pass out or fall over on the side walk.

I know on 3rd avenue between 30th and 40th I will pass the "boom box homie" who is always pushing a shopping cart full of his "belongings." On the top of his bottles and boxes in his cart is a boom box that is always turned too loud and playing his favorite tunes that he likes to sing to at the top of his lungs. He pushes his cart and stops at every garbage can looking for bottles. He digs through the trash and sings and taps his foot to the beat. He may be crazy, but he is happy every time I see him.

I pass these homeless individuals on a bi-weekly basis. I know where they are and how to avoid them. And when I see them coming I hold my purse tight and look the other way.

They bother me and I feel If I don't make eye contact then I won't see the hurt in their eyes.
I don't want to see the hurt because I don't want to feel bad for doing nothing. Every day.

Today one of those "gross, disgusting, crazy homeless people" got my attention.
I have passed this homeless women about 5 times now. She is always around Union Square and she always has her old, gray boxer by her side. The women looks repulsive and unhealthy. She has sores all over her skin and is always bent over looking half a sleep or coked out. I want to look away the second I realize who she is. Except, her dog catches my eye.
Today I couldn't look away. In a city that rarely takes time for the homeless, this women had someone that truly loved her. She was foul, ugly and probably a walking disease, however this ol' dog didn't care. The dog didn't care that people didn't like his owner. He didn't care that no one talked to them or fed them. To him, she is beautiful and loyal and he is proud of her. At one point the women got up and walked away. The dog followed. I snapped a few pictures because that's all I could do.





I leaned against a pole and watched this duo. Of course I didn't help; I just observed. I wonder why this dog loves her? I wish I understood this unconditional love he had for her. This blind, unrestricted, selfless devotion.
Her sign broke my heart. I can tell myself she is crazy everyday , but I can not deny that she was talking to me.
She is right. The truth does hurt.

Man oh Manikin

Today on my lunch break I passed Saks when something caught my attention.
A truck was stopped by the loading dock and had the back of the truck open while unloading the contents inside the store. Working men were busy running back and forth from the truck to the store trying to unload as much material as possible before the store opened. With people rushing around me trying to beat the clock to work and the men quickly lifting things from the truck, I was the only thing standing still as I stared inside the truck.

The inside wall of the truck was lined with plastic female manikins. Clearly they were soon to be clothed with a beautiful expensive BCBG or Versace dresss, but for now these plastic women were strapped naked to the inside of the truck. They couldn't move nor express any kind of emotion. They just sat there staring.

I smiled back at them and thought no matter what kind of day I am having…it could ALWAYS be worse!

Oh rats!

While waiting for the subway this morning, I noticed a sign pinned to the subway wall that said, "Caution Rodent Poison." Under the caution, the exterminator had initialed and dated his last visit.
It read, HGS 2002.
And NY wonders why the subways have rats????

Girl on a mission...

This weekend I was walking through the busy and beautiful Union Square. I was on a mission. I was shopping in the flower market that sits in the square park. I bought 5 beautiful Impatients that I knew would look fabulous in my new flower bed. With potted plants in hand I inched my way through the crowd to DSW to quickly browse the summer heels. I love Union Square because it is the only place where the east village meets the west village (weird and quirky meets hippie vegans). This is the hot spot for social and political activism. I could stand all day and watch the people protest about slaves in china, have a pillow fight, shop in the green market, argue that Bush is gay, buy organic wine, beg for the homeless, practice meditation, or adopt a puppy. Although I love the craziness the park has to offer, today it was about flowers and shoes. I had no time to argue about the war with a homeless man wrapped in aluminium foil.

I had almost made it into the store when a man stopped me and said, "Excuse me, are you from here?" Knowing that I didn't have time for a mini lecture, I quickly said, "yes, but I'm not interested in buying what you have to sell, I'm not converting to your religion, I don't want to adopt a kid in Yemen, and I won't sign a petition." I turned to walk away feeling quite satisfied he would leave me alone.
He just looked at me blank face and said, "OK...but do you mind telling me how to get Broadway?"

I'm a jerk.