bucked by the system
east side observer
BY ARLENE KAYATT
Deerly departed — poor buck. He stopped here. Got caught in the headlights between NYC and Albany. Pretty tough to survive that. How’d the deer get here in the first place? Some say he swam. Really? Was it fake news, made-up news (no harm intended, just context)? Or did Lefty hook up with deerdate.org or jdate4deers.com to meet a mate for a date? How does anyone know how the one-antlered deer got to Jackie Robinson Park in West Harlem? And, if someone saw the swimming deer, why didn’t they just call Santa or the Salvation Army — it’s that time of year — for an intervention or a rescue? Wise not to have made initial contact with our Gov or our Mayor when there was hope — we know how that turned out. Why no Instagram of the swimming deer? And where were the twitterers and tweeters when Lefty left the water? Nothing happens in the present tense without a digital, visual or audio footprint. Unfortunately, it all came to naught for the poor deer who left home — wherever that may have been — first for a greener pasture in the park and then for some concrete, brick and mortar in NYC public housing at Polo Grounds Towers. A fawn whose fate was sealed once he encountered and fell victim to the vagaries of New York politicians. Yup, the poor buck stopped here. He never had a chance. Sorry, Lefty. RIP.
Bike-side service — a perfectly happy storm came to pass as an M103 pulled to the curb for a bus stop. As the driver was about to close the door, a cyclist slowed his bike, waved his hand in front of the about-to-close door so a man with a walker and his aide could come along for the bus ride. Made my day.
Crossed words — 12/13/16 New York Times puzzle. Clue, Parrots and ferrets. 4 letters. Are you kidding, New York Times? The answer can’t be “pets.” Not in NYC, where ferrets are not permitted to be kept as pets by private individuals. Trust me, Our Town lived through the days in the Guiliani years when he mounted a vociferous campaign against the critters being kept as pets. He was successful. While ferrets may not be banned as pets in a Times crossword puzzle, they are banned as pets in city apartments. No need for the reminder.
Grounding grandpa — 8 a.m. Monday. Elevator in UES high-rise filling up with kids toting backpacks, dogs leashed and held by their walker, housekeepers lugging laundry bags and detergents while folks on their way to work are working their cellphones trying to reach Uber and the like because they’re late. In comes Grandpa pushing his pre-teen granddaughter into the too-crowded elevator as he struggles to keep the hot coffee in the topless paper cup he’s holding without spilling it — not on the elevator floor, which is totally occupied — but onto one of the kids or the dogs or the walkers or the cell phoners — or on all of them. He somehow managed to raise the open, almost-filled-to-the-top cup to a level where it wasn’t touching anyone and didn’t spill. Grandpa, you don’t bring a cup of hot coffee — with or without a top — into a crowded elevator at any time but especially not at heavy traffic hours. Wait for a coffee break or have your coffee at home or on the street until you get to wherever you’re going.
Some are Civil, some Supreme — all are newly elected judges/justices of the Civil and Supreme Courts of New York County. Primaries, elections are done, gone, over — and inductions began in December. To the victors went the prized privilege of being a part of one of the best judiciaries in the country. Judge Kelly O’Neill Levy is now a Supreme Court justice. Judge Sabrina Kraus and Josh Hanshaft and Judy Kim are now Civil Court judges. Emily Morales-Minerva and Aija Tingling will be inducted as Civil Court judges in February and Judges Robert Reed, James D’Auguste, Andrea Masley and Erika Edwards will be inducted as justices of the Supreme Court in January or February. Great bench.