Police presence on the Bowery

BoweryBoogie had a report yesterday about a man who was shot on the Bowery near Bleecker early Saturday morning.

The Post had a little more on the incident in today's paper:

A gunman opened fire early yesterday on the Lower East Side, wounding two men.

The victims, both in their 30s, were shot on the Bowery near Bond Street at about 4:40 a.m., police said. One was hit in the leg, the other in the arm.

Both were treated at Bellevue Hospital -- but refused to cooperate with investigators looking into what sparked the shooting.

On Saturday morning, there was a strong police presence...



...to set up pylons for the street construction on First Street and the Bowery that blocked traffic for much of the day....

Gunshots on Fourth Street and Avenue B Saturday afternoon

A readers reports hearing gunshots Saturday afternoon around 2 on Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. According to the reader, the police blocked off Fourth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C for several hours. Does anyone have further information?

Critters on the loose in Manhattan! (NOT on the menu at Serge today: Possum)

While walking to a dumb lunch appointment today up in Midtown ... I saw five police cars parked along Madison Avenue in the 30s. Several police officers and passers-by were staring at the trellis next to the door at the French eatery Serge.



A makeshift barrier was set up outside the restaurant, which was not yet open.



Uh, so why are we all standing here looking at the trellis? A building maintenance man and bicycle messenger said in unison, "Possum!" Well, sure enough, a possum was hovering in the corner....looking pretty menacing...



So we all stood around like a bunch of dopes while the police officers figured out the best method of humanely trapping the possum. That left people time to theorize. "How do you think he got here?" Well, said one man, "I've seen possum in the Bronx." Another man chimed in, "I bet he took the subway!"

Yeah, OK....the police eventually got a little cranky with so many people — now maybe 40 strong? — milling about.

Back up, people!



We did. People new to the crowd said things like, "What is it, a gas leak?" Tourists took photos.



A few minutes later, an officer approached the possum with an apple-picker-looking thing. The possum was placed inside a plastic trash can and carted off... We didn't hear where the possum was being taken. People stood around for a few more moments, seemingly disappointed to see the free entertainment come to a conclusion.

[Oops...Thanks to the e-mailer...it's an opossum in the Western Hemisphere...Apologies...]

Police beat

As the sign shows, the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue held an event for the community featuring games for kids, free pens and pencils from the DA's office, safety tips and cops on stilts.

Oh, I didn't ask them about this. Or this.