The return of some non-human native New Yorkers.
My most vivid Nat Geo moment in this crazy metropolis of ours unfolded some years ago when I stopped mid-run at dusk in Carl Schurz Park to watch a huge bird, clearly a raptor (probably a red tailed hawk), perched in a tree, and then, at the base of the branch on which it was resting, some sort of movement. It flapped its wings and flew off, and in the waning light, the shadowy silhouettes made it all clear - a wriggling rodent grasped in its talons ... the original New York City takeout order.
Since then, I've seen our large feathered friend again (or its relations) in the park (that photo above), as have others.
And they aren't the only non-humans coming back to city life. The City has been trying to clean up for decades - about as long as I've been here - and the seeds planted and nurtured are bearing fruit, and the creatures are coming back to partake!
My love of this city runs deep, but all of the cold hard concrete and sterile steel can just leave us sentient beings feeling bereft of that natural life force. The urban jungle can be a harsh place, but the jungle also provides refuge. And I have always believed there is the possibility, the necessity, of balance, of cohabitation, of nature existing with the structures and things we humans need for a comfortable existence. We just have to be more thoughtful about designing and going about our journey of coexistence. Not a zero sum game - there's room for all of us.
[Edited October 29, 2021.]
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