10 am Wednesday morning, late June. Nice day and no work, a day off in the middle of the week…just fantastic. I exit the Morton Street garage in my car and pull over onto Seventh Ave to check traffic before heading up to Harriman State Park for a nature hike.
As I sit in my car with the windows open, I hear a female voice yelling “STOP THAT WOMAN!” I look up and see a woman with a little dog in tow, phone in hand, chasing a younger, well dressed female down the avenue, entreating anyone to “STOP THAT WOMAN!” A few folks put their arms out feebly but she just blows past them.
There is about a half block distance between the pursuer and the pursued, the pursuer is handicapped by her little dog on a leash and being on her phone. The pursued is young and unencumbered, so she trots at a good pace, but not so fast as to attract undue attention. She keeps looking back but the pursuer is not giving up, still yelling and hot on the trail. No one knows what’s really going on.
As I sit in my car, I observe that the pursued has turned onto Leroy Street, which is also my route. As I drive west on Leroy I observe her trotting along and looking back to see if her pursuer is still following her. Yes she is but is losing ground. She turns south on Hudson and makes a right on Clarkson, both of which are against traffic, easier to see if cops are coming I presume.
As I wait at the light at Hudson, the pursuer arrives but the pursued is now out of sight. I roll down my window and yell “She went that way.” The woman then asks if I can drive her the two blocks west so she can head off the object of her pursuit. Unthinkingly, I agree. She hops in the passenger seat, her little dog jumps onto my lap, won’t sit still but is also sniffing my bagel sandwich. She’s on the phone shouting excitedly to 911. My coffee is getting spilled. I asked her what happened. She says that this young woman tried to steal from her and that when she tried to stop her; the woman smashed a coffee into her face and took off. She seemed very very angry and she was going to do her best to bring this miscreant to justice!
Here I was, just about to embark on a relaxing nature hike in the country, to blue sky and serenity, and in the space of a few seconds I am embroiled in a high tension NYC crime drama, with an over excited little dog jumping on my lap as I drive (a stick shift), an over excited woman in my passenger seat shouting instructions to the police over her phone, and my breakfast spilling onto the floor.
At Washington Street, to my utmost relief, she hops out toward Clarkson with her dog and phone, and out of my day and out of my life. The nature hike was wonderful by the way.
