neighborHOOD update

So I was walking home from the train stop tonight. I worked late (it was about 9:30) and it was freezing so there weren’t too many people out. I was standing on the corner (across from my building) and was waiting for the light to change when suddenly four police cars converged on the corner at the same time. Two more parked in the middle of the street. Then three other patrol cars from a different direction joined them within about 10 seconds. (That’s a total of 9 police cars, folks!) At this point I started to worry just a bit. I was completely exposed and couldn’t, for the life of me, see any sort of threat that I should be avoiding. And to top it all off, the light hadn’t changed so I couldn’t walk. I was stuck on the corner awaiting either the walking-man signal or my fated doom.

The three cars nearest to me emptied at this point. They ran into Dunkin Donuts. The car to the left of me emptied and ran down the street behind me. And another pair of officers ran into the little grocery store opposite of the coffee shop. The officers in the car facing me (head on) didn’t move and I can’t really recall what the other cars were doing. I was too busy searching the sidewalk for some lunatic wielding a gun or something. I kept waiting for at least one of the officers to offer some sort of reassurance or instructions to get out of the way, but nothing came. It was frightening and funny at the same time. I mean, honestly, when does this happen?

Then, just as quickly as the cars had come, they started to disperse. At this point the light changed and the anxiety I was feeling overpowered my curiosity—and so I walked. I don’t really know what happened but don’t ever say that the NYPD doesn’t respond quickly, because they do. Just like the time my building was on fire….