Kelley, her niece Fay and I were going out for lunch today. I met them at the Whitehall subway station at a time that just happened to coincide with one of the large crowds of people who regularly shuffle past the station.
View Larger MapIn case you are unfamiliar with subway stops in lower Manhattan, this station is located on Whitehall Street, which is the main street that people walk along in order to get from the Staten Island ferry to most of the subway lines that stop downtown. Twice an hour, large crowds of people empty from the ferry terminal onto Whitehall Street.
Unlike a lot of crowds in New York, these crowds are made up of predominantly New Yorkers, meaning they are rude and obnoxious. You get these groups of teenagers who walk 5 abreast, block the entire sidewalk, and get big attitudes if you do anything but scramble to get out of their way.
"Get out of my way," said a woman as she pushed me.
"Don't push me," I yelled out at her as she walked away.
"Then get out of my way," she said.
"Don't push me," I repeated, determined not to let her be the big mouth to get in the last word.
At this point, a group of 3 greasy haired guys approached me and started to defend this girl's honor:
"Yo man, everything ok? Everything ok?"
"She's a woman, dog. Don't talk like that to a woman."
"You got a problem?"
Nothing came of their challenges. They were just trying to look tough to one another. I was mainly being a big mouth for Fay's benefit. She's been stranded in New York for several days due to flight cancellations, and she's been housebound in Brooklyn for all of that time. I wanted her first trip back into the city to be memorable.