Weekend Column: A Central Park Moment

By Robin Cohn

It’s usually quiet when I take my early morning walk in Central Park. I don’t expect to encounter anything laugh-out-loud funny, but I did the other day at Bethesda Terrace, the beautiful archway linking the Mall and Bethesda Fountain, midpark at 72nd Street. I always stop there to get my fix of wonderful classical guitar player Carlos Konig. Joggers and folks come by with their dogs. There are often one or two photo shoots going on, usually pre-wedding couples. A calm setting.

One recent morning, there were four very different shoots happening in the Venetian-tiled walkway. A photographer urged a pre-wedding couple to dance. Carlos promptly played romantic music. The woman was in a tight, stretchy dress and high heels, tugging to keep her top up. But she gamely smiled as she tried to follow along. The groom was kind and encouraging. Ah, true love. I would have brained the guy for making me dance badly in front of a photographer.

While that couple was doing their thing, there was a woman wearing a sheer thonged bodysuit in another corner, posing — umm shall we say —provocatively for the camera. People walking by were struck dumb, staring. Basically, a cover-your-child’s-eyes moment.

In the third corner, a gay couple was self-consciously trying to follow their photographer’s orders. Didn’t look like they were having fun. They would have if the photographer had paid attention and let them act naturally.

On the other side, a pretty ballerina was dancing gracefully for her photographer. She’d stop, run to study the photos, then dance again, over and over.

Then, dogs arrived from all directions at the same time, sort of like a convention. Have no idea where the doggie parents were. Some dogs raced back and forth while others playfully wrestled. They sniffed around the photoshoots. A little dog almost tripped the dancing couple. The pooches seemed attracted to the almost-naked lady as they sat, becoming part of her audience. Funnier still, the photographers didn’t stop what they were doing as they dodged the dogs. Carlos was laughing as he kept playing his guitar even though the music was muffled by barks.

Then, as if someone waved a magic wand, the dogs were gone. Photographers moved their clients over to Bethesda Fountain. It was quiet. Carlos and I grinned.

All part of a moment in Central Park. You have to love it.

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