Positively 23rd Street

Last night as I was walking home down 23rd Street, I passed a long line of people barricaded off along the sidewalk near the curb. They had folding chairs and many were eating takeout. The line seemed to extend to the doors of a comedy club, but the marquee said nothing that would explain the presence of the group. I promptly forgot about it as my walk continued, my attention drawn to other things, like whether random people who appeared to be talking to themselves were on cell phones or just crazy, what movies were playing at Clearview Cinemas, and whether I wanted to eat peanut butter & jelly for dinner or something slightly more adult (I chose pb&j.)

It rained.

This morning, again walking down 23rd (which really is an ugly street), I saw that the people were still there, with their folding chairs, sleeping bags, and papers that they appeared to be signing and handing to someone with a clipboard. They were out there all night in the rain. Now I wanted to know why. What could be so important that these people would willingly spend time streetside on a big noisy thoroughfare in gross weather?

The marquee had my answer this time. Last Comic Standing auditions. There were news cameras everywhere and people were acting like major breaking news was happening here. I guess with Super Tuesday behind them, the local stations are short on action. On the plus side for the funny hopefuls, there’s probably lots of material to be found during a night on the street in NYC.

Closer to work, near Madison Square Park, I observed a commercial being filmed. A woman in heels faced the cameras and said, “Watch The People’s Court” in an authoritative tone. It was that Judge…you know…


Can this be considered an eventful walk to work? Usually, I just see the business crowd, people handing out AM New York, and a couple of guys who look like heroin addicts.