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Happy Easter - Brooklyn Style |
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From the trenches of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn |
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We just had a little vandalism here in the neighborhood -- and it appears
to be a very weird kind of "Happy Easter" message. I went out at about 3PM
on Good Friday and saw that our house had been "egged" along with several of
our neighbors' homes. Now I did notice some yellow stuff on the window sill
this morning but I was not focused on it. And there was a very strange
pattern of drippings on the screen of the same window, but I thought it was
from the snow and sleet we had the other night. However, when I went out
this afternoon it was hard to miss the egg shells in our front yard and not
put two and two together. For heaven's sake there were egg shells on the
stoop and inside the front door frame there was more yellow stuff. Then I
saw the egg vandals had aimed at my front window, the one I look out as I
type here, and the same window my cats love to look out of all day. I am on
the second floor so these were world class egg throwers! I rang my landlord's bell and talked to their 17-year old daughter.
Apparently the egg incident happened Wednesday night -- another neighbor saw
a car drive along, stop, and then several passengers, all young people,
hurled eggs at the four houses -- all in a row -- 646, 644, 642 and 640 20th
Street. No one else on the block was egged so we even have an Easter egg
mystery of sorts, except Easter eggs are supposed to be hard-boiled and
colored in pretty pastels. I was a bit surprised that I did not see the eggshells until Good Friday.
But, I had been home sick with a dreadful migraine headache on Wednesday and
did not get out of bed until 6PM. I did not even notice the tossed egg
droppings on the way to work on Thursday since I had not been feeling very
well. I have been trying to clean the egg yolks from my window sill and they do
not come off so easily. I then noticed that there was more egg yolk and
shells on the top of the awning which covers the front door! I then leaned
out of the window a bit and saw the egg white drippings under my window. I
actually tried to clean off those egg white drippings from under my window
but it is tough. I then thought I could even fall out of the window, so I
soon gave up on cleaning the exterior of the house. My landlord will have to
get out the pressure cleaner he uses once or twice a year and use it to get
the egg droppings off the house. I must make a trip to the local "Key Food" supermarket later today. I
wonder if they are all out of eggs and if this pre-Easter egg throwing is a
new Brooklyn custom. Or, have some of our residents mistaken Easter for
Halloween. Egg-tossing at Halloween is a time-honored tradition here in
Kings County. I have personally seen small groups of young people buying
cartons of eggs on Halloween and I am sure they were not planning to bake a
quiche. I, too, have learned to step over the egg shells left behind, as I
walk to the subway station on All Saint's Day. I once walked past a band of egg-throwers sitting in Carroll Park, in my
old neighborhood, Carroll Gardens. I had just picked up my laundry and was
carrying it home. "Please don't egg me," I pleaded with them, "I just picked
up this bag of clean laundry!" I was not egged on that day many years ago. I
guess my luck just ran out. Happy Easter to all and watch out for flying eggs. |
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