Crusties are People Too?

Part 2 (see Part 1 here)





I had hoped to learn a little more about Morgan and her background. In a way, one could say I had made her acquaintance. When I approached her lying in the grass on Sunday, greeting her with "Morgan Maginnis," she jumped and ran as if she had seen the devil incarnate. It took some conversation and persuasion to convince her that I was the man who had photographed her only a few days earlier.

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Crusties are People Too, Part 1

Christian Meets Chaucer and Crusties


Let's create an impossible scenario. Start with a Bible-thumping preacher standing on a small stool, screaming scripture aloud in a park using amplification. The police arrive after a noise complaint by a hostile man with a long white beard and hair - the incarnation of Mr. Natural ala R. Crumb. He also complains that he does not believe the preaching is biblically accurate (not an arrestable offense). The preacher informs the police that there is case law that says preaching with amplification is not illegal and that only volume can be regulated. He looks for the court ruling on his iPhone and will fax it to the police precinct. The police back off.

Another preacher begins, his voice volume greater than that generated by the small amplifier used previously. Simultaneously, a young man is reading loudly from a text, directed at the preacher. I cannot recognize the language - I assume it is a religious text, perhaps in Hebrew and ask him about it. He is an English literature student and is reading the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English at full volume. It's a war of words...

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Myra's Isle

As regular readers well know, I am a habitué of Washington Square Park, my front and back yard. Here, I have met many remarkable people, some of whom have been featured on the website. It has, for a number of us who live in the neighborhood, become a veritable social club.

However, this environment is certainly not for the average palate and admittedly, as is often the case in New York City, one must tolerate a spectrum of people - the violent, hostile, drug addicts and dealers, crusties, homeless, and every manner of misfit, social outcast and criminal known to humankind. Any park regular will by necessity, at least occasionally, encounter, or should I say be accosted by, very unsavory individuals, particularly late at night, which will certainly remove any doubt that werewolves, zombies or vampires do in fact exist.

Building a social life in such an environment tests one's ability to maintain a balance, giving all the benefit of the doubt - being polite and respectful yet cautious. It is a harsh educational experience - one of the many courses for those attending New York's Sidewalk University. The trials and tribulations of being homeless are clearly illuminated - I have learned what this really means on a day to day basis.

Some time ago I had conversation about these matters with Myra, a neighborhood resident, who owns an apartment with one of the finest locations I have ever seen in the Village - a four bedroom corner duplex penthouse that fronts both Fifth Avenue and Washington Square North with a private 1,400 square foot outdoor roof deck and additional terraces in front. You can virtually touch the Washington Square arch from nearly every window and space. At night, the illuminated monument is absolutely stunning.

Myra is well aware of the privileged residence she has. In fact, she expressed her desire to share it more with others. This, in tandem with conversations about taking our park social group indoors from time to time, led Myra to graciously offer her place as venue for a party. The conversation was recently further explored with another local resident, Hellen. Our mutual enthusiasms knew no bounds and in short order, a three person party planning committee was formed.

A spreadsheet was created to manage the names and RSVPs. As any party planner will attest, managing the number of invitees becomes a big challenge - there is no end to who should rightfully be invited and soon our party list numbered 47. Individuals of every imaginable background were in attendance with a heavy representation of musicians, important to all those attending. Music is one of the best loved features of the park's culture.

Initially, the party was to wish a friend farewell who was leaving for the summer - an NYU student who has befriended our group, particularly the musicians (herself a guitarist and singer). Coincidentally, this was also the birthday for Harvey, Hellen's husband, and a celebration for Steve who had just started a new job. Remarkably, Sally, with whom I had a chance encounter in 2010, was coming to New York the very same weekend with her family. It was also the first time I had ever actually planned and cohosted a party, a cause for celebration in its own right. Hellen provided celebratory tags and placed them on dessert cakes for this amazing serendipitous occurrence of five events.

Among the attendees whom I have written about previously were: Sally Darling, Gaby Lampkey, Ferris Butler, Susan Goren and Sage. George Vellonakis, a noted landscape architect responsible for the park redesign was also aboard. Ferris was accompanied by Beverly Ross, singer-songwriter responsible for the hit song "Lollipop."

Unbeknownst to us, George brought a friend, Tina Louise, an actress who is best known for her role as the movie star Ginger on the TV series Gilligan's Island - quite appropriate to round out our own cast of characters. We now had a professor (Steve), Mary, a millionaire and his wife, a movie star (the real Ginger), even a Tiny Louise. Two members of our party planning group certainly qualified as skipper and mate and did their very best to make our group of 47 castaways in self exile very happy and comfortable in Myra's Isle :)

Related Posts: Ferris Butler, Gaby Lampkey Part 2, When Brian Met Sally, Curse of the Mouth Trumpet, Impossible, On the Road, The Bathroom Closes in 20 Minutes, Pockets of Joy, Just Like Old Times, Dave, Smile, The Conductor, Sounds of Summer, Spinning, Park Night

Grace Under Fire

Once privileges are given, they are soon seen as rights - taking them away will not be well received. This scenario is common in New York City, such as in quality of life campaigns when circumstances beg for attention and there is a broader and stricter enforcement of existing laws. This, of course, invariably precipitates public outcry, particularly from those who are more politically active and vigilant concerning civil rights.

Recently, there was a small show of force and ticketing of street performers in Washington Square Park. This is an extremely contentious issue for a number of reasons, particularly since the area has a history of musical performance, one of the dominant reasons many visit this area. The Village has been known as a center for artists and musicians for a century. Apart from the rights to free speech and expression, however, there are nuances of other laws coming into play regarding busking, solicitation, noise, public disturbance and unlawful assembly.

Shutting down and ticketing performers was met with hostile reaction ranging from anger to outrage. After the recent sweep, the park personnel who had done the ticketing were nowhere to be found - a smart and understandable move. Two officers were on hand however, Alberto Alicea (photo rear) and Tom Grace of the 6th Precinct. The flurry of fury was constant, with a crowd of individuals venting and fuming. Being on the receiving end of a barrage of angry music lovers requires composure because hell hath no fury like an artist warned.

As is the case with many police actions and the law, most citizens are inadequately informed, misinformed or just too angry to have thought the situation through. I knew I was not dealing with the typical "cop" as I first approached the group where Tom was at work explaining a broad number of concepts including exigent circumstance in United States law.

I was extremely impressed not only with Tom's composure and patience, but with his knowledge of the fine details of the law, its intent and interpretation. In addition to his understanding of the academic side of the law, he has a good working knowledge as to its application and the use of common sense and discretion. I spoke with Tom's partner, Alberto Alicea, during these goings on. Al assured me that Tom's intellect and talents at interpretation and explanation of the law were well known. Tom told me he loved to read and also informed me that policemen were now required to have at least 60 university credits to become an officer. Born in New Jersey, Tom now lives in Brooklyn and has been on the police force for 8 years.

He was the perfect spokesperson to have on hand after an event of this nature. I saw one individual after another arrive angry and leave unwillingly satisfied. Tom's approach was not one of debate, but of discussion with calm and clear explanation of the law, the circumstances and police response, always addressing the individual's questions directly.

Being an officer in the New York Police Department is not an easy challenge. Here we have every variant of lawbreaker imaginable, from the innocent tourist committing a minor infraction to seasoned criminals and scam artists who have as good a working knowledge of the law as the police themselves and are often able to ply their trade and evade arrest. Disrespect and defiance is common. I have spent hours conversing with police officers in Washington Square Park. Bicycling in the park is common but a violation, which is clearly stated on numerous signs. Officers typically ask riders to dismount and walk their bikes. Responses vary from polite complicity to open hostile remarks.

Tom quickly volunteered that he saw a police uniform as clothing, behind which were a broad range of individuals like that seen in the population at large. He was not a man to defend the actions or character of any man in uniform and acknowledged that laws are often improperly or unevenly applied.

In the case of the ticketing of the street performers by park officers, many felt that quotas may have been a factor and that many performers were unfairly and unjustly targeted in the action. A few may have been overly zealous and aggressive in their solicitation. Others, however, performed as they always had and were exercising their rights, not enjoying privilege. I'm glad I did not have to defend the actions of the park personnel. To stand amongst an angry mob takes composure and guts. By guts, I mean Grace under Fire :)

Note: Some comments for this posting were lost due to a blogger outage.

That Should Cover It

On Sunday, April 17, two photographer friends and I were strolling in Washington Square Park where a man suddenly appeared with an enormous leashed iguana which he proceeded to walk on the lawn. As we were taking photos, the owner became immediately hostile, demanding $3. We stopped. One of our group, however, pointed out that this was a public park and there were no restrictions regarding photography.

This was not my first encounter with someone who displayed exotic pets in the parks of New York City. In 2006, I featured a story and photos about a man with a small trio of exotic animals that he marketed as photo ops to passersby - see Snake Charmer here. I also once witnessed a large Albino Burmese Python, slithering along in Central Park - see here.

But I had suspicions regarding the iguana owner's edginess - that he might have had some concern other than losing potential modeling fees for his critter. I never did investigate the laws regarding exotic pets in the city. A quick search and I learned that housing an iguana as a pet is a violation of the New York City Health Code. There is so much rumor mongering and misinformation in life, I have decided to reprint the code here in its entirety, exactly as written, directly from the New York City government website. So here, In the spirit of Everything No, is article 161.01 - Wild Animals Prohibited:

(1) All dogs other than domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris), including, but not limited to, wolf, fox, coyote, hyena, dingo, jackal, dhole, fennec, raccoon dog, zorro, bush dog, aardwolf, cape hunting dog and any hybrid offspring of a wild dog and domesticated dog.

(2) All cats other than domesticated cats (Felis catus), including, but not limited to, lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, puma, panther, mountain lion, cheetah, wild cat, cougar, bobcat, lynx, serval, caracal, jaguarundi, margay and any hybrid offspring of a wild cat and domesticated cat.

(3) All bears, including polar, grizzly, brown and black bear.

(4) All fur bearing mammals of the family Mustelidae, including, but not limited to, weasel, marten, mink, badger, ermine, skunk, otter, pole cat, zorille, wolverine, stoat and ferret.

(5) All Procyonidae: All raccoon (eastern, desert, ring-tailed cat), kinkajou, cacomistle, cat-bear, panda and coatimundi.

(6) All carnivorous mammals of the family Viverridae, including, but not limited to, civet, mongoose, genet, binturong, fossa, linsang and suricate.

(7) All bats (Chiroptera).

(8) All non-human primates, including, but not limited to, monkey, ape, chimpanzee, gorilla and lemur.

(9) All squirrels (Sciuridae).

(10) Reptiles (Reptilia). All Helodermatidae (gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard); allfront-fanged venomous snakes, even if devenomized, including, but not limited to, all Viperidae (viper, pit viper), all Elapidae (cobra, mamba, krait, coral snake), all Atractaspididae (African burrowing asp), all Hydrophiidae (sea snake), all Laticaudidae (sea krait); all venomous, mid-or rear-fanged, Duvernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family Boidae, including, but not limited to, the common or green anaconda and yellow anaconda; any member of the family Pythonidae, including but not limited to the African rock python, Indian or Burmese python, Amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bosc's or African savannah monitor, Komodo monitor or dragon, Nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, Bornean earless monitor; any member of the family Iguanidae, including the green or common iguana; any member of the family Teiidae, including, but not limited to the golden, common, or black and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; and all members of the order Crocodylia, including, but not limited to alligator, caiman and crocodile.

(11) Birds and Fowl (Aves): All predatory or large birds, including, but not limited to, eagle, hawk, falcon, owl, vulture, condor, emu, rhea and ostrich; roosters, geese, ducks and turkeys prohibited or otherwise regulated pursuant to § 161.19 of this Code, the Agriculture and Markets Law or applicable federal law.

(12) All venomous insects, including, but not limited to, bee, hornet and wasp.

(13) Arachnida and Chilopoda: All venomous spiders, including, but not limited to, tarantula, black widow and solifugid; scorpion; all venomous arthropods including, but not limited to, centipede.

(14) All large rodents (Rodentia), including, but not limited to, gopher, muskrat, paca, woodchuck, marmot, beaver, prairie dog, capybara, sewellel, viscacha, porcupine and hutia.

(15) All even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) including, but not limited to, deer, antelope, sheep, giraffe and hippopotamus.

(16) All odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla) other than domesticated horses (Equus caballus), including, but not limited to, zebra, rhinoceros and tapir.

(17) All marsupials, including, but not limited to, Tasmanian devil, dasyure, bandicoot, kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, wombat, koala bear, cuscus, numbat and pigmy, sugar and greater glider.

(18) Sea mammals (Cetacea, Pinnipedia and Sirenia), including, but not limited to, dolphin, whale, seal, sea lion and walrus.

(19) All elephants (Proboscides).

(20) All hyrax (Hydracoidea).

(21) All pangolin (Pholidota).

(22) All sloth and armadillo (Edentata).

(23) Insectivorous mammals (Insectivora): All aardvark (Tubildentata), anteater, shrew, otter shrew, gymnure, desman, tenrec, mole and hedge hog.

(24) Gliding lemur (Dermoptera).

I think that should cover it :)