Don't try this at home.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like vampires take over the park when the Sun goes down.  That only happens in Prospect Park.  The park, like most of Manhattan is benign during the evening hours, particularly in Summer when strolling may be safely done until quite late.  Indeed,  the tour groups don’t stop with the daylight, they continue well into the night. No, I am talking about late, between midnight and daybreak.    To take the above photograph, I trekked into the park at 4:30 AM on my way to the reservoir.  I’m a large man, I carried a monopod designed for self defense and generally know how to take care of myself.  It did not stop me from developing a keen sense of discomfort at the dark shadows shuffling under the trees with sleeping bags and shopping carts.   I never saw New York in the 70′s and 80′s but in the darkness of the park at that hour,  I saw about 1% of what it must have been like.

I’ve riffed pretty hard on the Park for the past three posts, but the City would be empty without it.  The people who work there, the people who contribute time and money do an amazing job taking care of it, it is a wonder it exists at all.  I kid and I kid with love, except about the dogs…that is really annoying.