Weekend Column: What Bunny?

By Robin Cohn

One of the things I love about the Upper West Side is that strange things aren’t strange. A bunny riding the 72nd Street crosstown bus. Medieval troubadours strolling down Columbus Avenue. An obnoxious human-sized key bothering pedestrians. All part of the day. There’s a certain freedom and acceptance here. I’m not talking about Halloween. It happens all year. You want to be a bunny? No problem. Do whatever. As long as it’s not illegal or naughty.

I learned this lesson before I moved here, as a visitor. A friend and I were exploring the UWS. Walking down Columbus Avenue, we watched a man coming towards us with his arm around his apparent girlfriend, briefcase in hand. In a bunny suit. No one looked or laughed except us. I knew I wanted to be part of a place where incongruity was normal.

Take the bunny in my M72 Street crosstown photo. If you look at the passengers, no one is paying attention. Typical New York nonreaction. A man with a live snake around his neck. Eh. Only visitors stare or laugh, very uncool. When I moved here, I admit I stared at five Santas crossing the street together, wondering why folks ignored them. Seemed charming till I learned about SantaCon. Hundreds of them. Who cares? No real Santa in the bunch. As a former child, I know Santa is jolly and nice and doesn’t hit the bottle.

We accept the strange because we know the eccentric sights are based on reality. After all, we live in a neighborhood filled with performing arts and theater. A place where imagination, fantasy, and substance coexist. People walking around in costume are no big deal. Except for the obnoxious key that I mentioned earlier. It would stand in front of a now-defunct hardware store somewhere on Amsterdam Avenue, making snide comments, often blocking the sidewalk. Also, it needed a trip to the cleaners. We hated that key. When it came up in conversation, we’d vent. The thing is, we never saw it as a person. It was a key. No doubt one of the reasons the store when south.

There’s one audience who believes fantasy is real: little children. To them, different is normal. Back to the bus bunny. A little boy came on board and ran to sit beside him. The two of them had a nice chat as the bunny explained the importance of carrots. To that child, he was a real bunny. And I learned about carrots. Let’s not forget clowns. As in dressed-up ones, not ones we know. Little ones either laugh or scream because they believe they are actual strange people. Children are captivated by the costumed figures walking down the street. They confirm what they see in picture books. Kids run up to hug them, grownups don’t. But it makes one stop and wonder what would happen if we did….

These days, who can say what’s normal. But we live here in harmony with eccentricity on the Upper West Side. We see the unusual and accept it as long as it’s not unlawful or crude. Yes, this is a New-York thing. But on the UWS, we like to take ownership. Imagination flourishes here, adding charm and color to our world. Think how boring it would be if strange were strange.

Hey, I just saw Big Bird! In Tucker Square! He waved and I waved back.

Who or what have you seen?

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