A reader comment that deserves its own post...
Living on St Marks place (b/t 2nd & 3rd no less) for 33 years is bound to have some effect on a person (me), but I have to say last night was something truly unheralded. As close as I can describe between 12-4, the street resembled nothing so much as Times Square on New Year's Eve. What was even more sobering (ha) was the arrival of cops who placidly navigated the drunk, screaming, traffic stopping, collectively shouting crowd without even attempting to clear the street or the sidewalk. Living on SMP for so long, one adjusts to the fact that inhabitants are deprived of certain civil rights — quiet, privacy, garbage pick up, but this was stunning. I have seen everything here — 70s speed freaks to 80s junkies to the riots in the park. I thought for sure, the same cops (and helicopters) who turned out for that event — or the Republican convention — would show. Nope. What up with that?