Claire V. Bogdanos

EXCUSE ME, is that your dog poop on my sidewalk ?  Sound familiar ?  Rumor has it that one of our more visible brownstoners arose early one morning recently, wearing cap and woolplaid mackinaw, bearing spade in hand with a determined grin, approached the stoop, ladling animal excreta on same.  I guess that he experienced momentary satisfaction in the act, relieving pentup frustrations of the past week.  However one performance does not a cure make.  I recall my own first night, a cold and snowy holiday eve many years ago.  Sometimes I think I’ve never lived anywhere else, so assimilated have I become.  To continue, after a 30 year exile in suburbia, HOBOKEN was a culture shock.  I had a dog, a large dog, oversized and overfed who required a walk !  I grabbed a robe, slipped on scuffs, proceeded down the stairway and out  into the night, dog and all.  Once outside I reflected on the foolishness of my action, good grief, it was 3AM and the local bars were emptying out, all it appeared on my block !  Tightly clutching one fleece robe, sloshing through the snow, I “toughed” it out walking that dog with my heart pounding madly all the while muttering to myself hoping the passersby would think “maybe she’s crazy.  Finally returning to my doorway, dignity challenged but intact, vowing to teach him in the very near future to use paper !  There’s a real need to provide dog walking areas, they do that in European cities out of necessity.  Perhaps someday here !  Excuse me, for the moment I have to buy the Times.                Sincerely,                                                Claire B.                                                                                  PS.  This in memory of Leo Perez, a dear friend and owner of the mackinaw who left us so young.