Crosstown Local Videos du Jour: Polemic

Last night yours truly and a pal attended a forum discussion hosted by the very talented Nathan Kensinger about street photography. Aside from the fact Union Docs was stifling, painfully hot it was an enjoyable evening. One which concluded on a provocative note via some “in flight” entertainment on the way home via the Crosstown Local courtesy of this guy.

As you will notice this chap has a pretty wide berth on the platform. This is because (and I suspect my fellow mass transit patrons will agree with me when I write this) he was— how should we say— a bit touched? His speech (inasmuch as I can ascertain) started with making light of Pearl Harbor:

five thousand miles away in 1941…

and eventually morphed into a random series of screeds about what is wrong with our country. Among other things. He continued his polemic on the train itself. Follows is one of the choicer excerpts for your Monday morning edification. Initially he directs his rancor to Hasidim but eventually (re)directs his attention back to the Japanese. Much to the discomfort of one subway-goer.

It should be noted that immediately prior to this screed our subterranean William F. Buckley spied yours truly filming him. To this he said:

Bitch, you’re taking pictures of a garbage can!

I was initially taken aback by this but quickly thought the better of it. Let’s employ a little logic here: which is worse being a bitch (a female dog) or a garbage can (a receptacle for waste products— and one in New York City at that)? This is a no brainer. In any case he resumed his soap boxing upon exiting the G train at India Street. “Polacks” and “Russkies” became his target as we headed north on Manhattan Avenue. That’s when it hit me: this gent and I are neighbors. I’m one lucky gal!

Miss Heather