Early Spring on East 87th Street - Part 2

Funny all the things one photo can show. I took this picture originally just to show the trees blooming one block over from me. This block is 87th between First Avenue and York Avenue, but I see more in this photo to talk about.

First, and I noticed this when I took the photo, is that you can see birds in that first tree which are pigeons, and I don't think you normally see, nor do I know if I ever have seen, pigeons roosting in trees. They are more building/statue kind of birds.

Second I notice a payphone, which is a rare thing to see in the City these days. Used to be there was one on every block -- even a little booth with a door that closed which now seems as quaint as a horse and buggy. I don't remember the last time I used a pay phone -- I don't even know if it's a quarter to make a call.

Next, you can see that in the right hand side, I caught a bit of a building which is an ice cream store. Have to admit that I was happy when I heard an ice cream store was going in on my corner, but I don't like the place, I don't like their ice cream, I don't like the people who work there and so in the three or so years it's been on this corner (it was previously a manicure place and before that a fish market), I think I've gone there three times.

The last thing I noticed, which I hadn't noticed before is the building poster on the left hand side for bed bugs. I had pitched a bed bug story to a magazine I no longer work for five years ago, then again four years ago, and one last time three years ago. Each time, the thinking was it was too rare of a problem to write about, but I knew that wasn't the case.

In fact, a friend of mine who lives in a luxury high rise building had a bed bug epidemic in her building where the building management brought in a bed bug sniffing dog to check all the apartments. Luckily hers was (and remains)bed bug free. When I noticed that poster, I thought of it as vindication for my article idea which should not have been rejected.

I had really followed the bed bug situation from its happening in foreign hotels, to crummy US hotels, to good US hotels, to regular people, to someone who I met but was not a friend, and then to a friend. It's like the circle got smaller and smaller. I do remember my mother saying "Sleep tight; don't let the bed bugs bite" but I never thought they were real things!