By Gary Martin
Gary B. Martin is an illustrator and animator who has lived on the Upper West Side for more than 30 years. His illustrations appear in the Rag on Sundays, chronicling life in the neighborhood, New York City, and the Universe. See them all here. For a broader range of Gary’s work, including animations and other motion graphics, please visit www.martoons.com
Listen to Rag Radio’s interview with Gary Martin — HERE.
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I take my family’s dogs out every day after work. To get from the stair or ramp to a tree or curb I usually have to wait for a break in the parade of pedestrians and e-bike delivery vehicles crowding the siewalk. Occasionally, there is also a fool on a Segue-like platform zipping and curving around the pedestrians and bikes. Throw in a couple of skateboards , too. This is not just uncomfortable. It’s dangerous! There are children, pets, mobility challenged and old people in the mix. The vehicles should be impounded, the riders fined. Fine the litterbugs, and dog walkers who don’t pick up the poop,.too. They leave a trail of garbage that is both unsightly and unsanitary.
Enforcement is neccessary, but non-existant.
‘parade of pedestrians and e-bike delivery workers…..’ everybody’s ordering stuff so there are delivery e-bikes. PEDESTRIANS??? that’s what sidewalks are for — not for uncontrolled dogs. like people with dogs hooked onto the backs of their pants — so the dogs are zigzagging around while the ‘owners’ are spaced out scrolling through social media. i’m a pedestrian (not a pest!). i would like to walk freely on sidewalks again, without dodging DOGS. the old people also, i think, don’t appreciate tripping over leashes. and please, i don’t need your dog coming up behind me, sniffing me. i don’t want that. keep the pedestrians and say bye to the dogs. the trees will thank you for it!
Often Dogs act better than the owners. Dogs are always good. The same can’t be said for people!
It is true that people ordering studff means we have delivery e-bikes. But they don’t beling on the sidewalk.
And dogs should be CURBED!
The dog owners should be curbed!
Has the city gotten faster paced? Or have I just slowed down?
or both.
I pick up my participation trophy every morning in the form of a latte.
Does it feel like everyone is playing a game of sidewalk chicken refusing to swerve first, or is it just me?
It’s mostly an attention span issue, people don’t have the spatial awareness they once had, half of them are glued to their phones.
Why not wake up and smell the coffee — you’re drinking enough of the stuff!
Ain’t this the truth! Thanks, Gary!
We should all strive to be more peculiar and less pedestrian.
I guess WE are evolving into spectators which is ok. Just remember to take cover when needed!
Yep! It can be daunting to walk in crowded spaces, but the e-bikes make it much more difficult!
Love this Martoon!👏 You always brighten my Sunday mornings, Gary!
That cute pup looks the most cheerful and relaxed!☺️ (funny the Phone People in the shadows!)
It is rough being a pedestrian these days, and only getting worse (I’m reminded of Gus’s “half-rant” on pedestrian etiquette a while back—in two parts!)
Yall got soft during the pandemic, and its showing now that things have finally gotten back to normal.
Yall aren’t from around here, are you?
So true!! And now dangerous with the bikes. Why can’t people notice their surroundings? 4 people across the sidewalk, ..can you please allow others to pass?
I was born and raised in Omaha and come from a family of walkers. Most of the time we had the sidewalks to ourselves in that car- saturated city. On the rare occasions I when I had to walk in a crowded place, my fellow walkers didn’t know how to share space. When I moved to New York 60 years ago, among its many delights were its sidewalks — crowded with the most wonderfully diverse collection of people, all more or less getting along, and they knew how to walk in a crowd! While the people I share the sidewalks with today are if anything even more diverse, most walk like the people in Omaha did in the 1950s — oblivious to the people around them. Instead of enjoying being with one another in person, their eyes and minds are totally focused on their damned cell phones. What a loss!
Walking and public transportation are NYC’s superpowers!
Having lived on UWS since 1978, the sidewalk crowds have grown since addition of bus and bike lanes as (usually?) the only safe place to walk. So much bike traffic imperils walkers. Crowded sidewalks a natural progression of too much growth here.
You forgot the double strollers.
and unnecessary dog strollers……
Nothing’s worse than the “tourist wall”. You know what I mean …. Like 5 tourists, all shoulder-to-shoulder, forming an impassable wall on the sidewalk. Walking slowly, of course….
Yes. Exactly that.
Or a large group of people socializing in the narrowest part of the sidewalk when there’s a perfectly good open space within a few feet of them where they could stand without blocking everyone going by. (I’m not convinced those are all tourists, either.)
Anything with wheels , runners , all of that belong in the street!
It’s broken field running because only about 15% of pedestrians are actually looking where they are going. The other 85% are scrolling on their phones and expecting the 15% to avoid them.
Lol. Survival of the fittest.
Have you noticed that some sidewalks have become so crowded with expanding restaurant sidewalk cafes that pedestrians are forced to walk single-file?
And then to top it off, they put a sign right on the sidewalk to take up even MORE space! Nice!
WAY too many dogs, strollers that are too large with kids old enough to walk, ebikes.
Simple enough
That’s why we can’t walk behind tourists.
Be careful you don’t get “run over” by another pedestrian!
I’ve lived in the same apartment 34 years and I clearly see a deteriorating quality of life in our neighborhood. The restaurant shacks create havoc in both the streets and sidewalks for pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists. The crossings from waiters, bicycles going the wrong way in bike lines or completely ignoring bike lanes, cars exceeding the 20mph limit, and the increased number of citibike racks, A casual stroll alone, walking a dog or pushing a baby stroller is a dangerous and stressful experience.
It is compensated for by the increase value of your co-op apartment.
The next frame of this cartoon would be the guy in front who is looking at his phone making a sudden stop in the middle of the sidewalk, creating a domino effect of everyone behind bumping into him and each other.
Where are the e-bikes and scooters shown on zooming down the sidewalks? People on bikes and scooters who think they are allowed on the sidewalks have started ringing a bell to tell me, a pedestrian, to move aside and get out of their way. Seriously, the absolute nerve of them.
Though riding on the sidewalk is illegal-there’s no enforcement of any kind to hold anyone accountable. I watched as a bicyclist almost rode into me on the sidewalk and when I said something to him gave me the finger while he rode in the center of a sidewalk full of pedestrians. When did New Yorkers come to accept this kind of arrogant, dangerous behavior?? Apparently the NYPD has no problem with this, nor do our UWS pols despite their pearl clutching.
How about this revolutionary idea? Long ago, when common courtesy still existed, people walked on the right side of the sidewalk. They didn’t barrel down the left side of the sidewalk while focused on their phones.
this cartoon is missing the strollers, scooters, kids with backpacks and their parents/caregivers rushing to and from school!
The first thing I noticed when I moved to Philadelphia was that no one was bumping into me on the sidewalk. But in the last few years that has changed. Stop moving to Philadelphia.