May 27, 2023 - “Space we Learned Again, is a Luxury”

There is a tiny corner in the Financial District, Nassau and Beekman, where this morning, a few minutes after nine, a man on a red and black Ducati motorcycle revved the bike’s engine once, twice, then a third time before peeling of, kind of. The streets are narrow and pedestrians were everywhere - going to and from this place and that.

Though the Ducati aficionado was wearing a racing helmet suitable for a professional race, he was also dressed in a button-up shirt, slacks, and almost dress shoes. Only a few seconds after the third rev of his engine, another man, dressed similarly minus the racing helmet, on foot, stepped off of the sidewalk and onto Nassau street.

Their paths nearly crossed and a collision was avoided, but only barely. After the shock and fear faded from their faces, they both kept walking, exchanging menacing looks at each other as they kept on. Who was at fault? The pedestrian, for haplessly stepping onto the street and off of the sidewalk and looking only barely; or Mr. Ducati, for daring to experience a bit of the thrill of the bike’s engine on a street so narrow and densely populated?

As a witness and a similarly-suited pedestrian, I assign my blame to the man on the motorcycle. He was smug, nonplussed, and upset that some lowly pedestrian would dare to step onto the street — in Manhattan, of all places, and in those tight Financial District corners, where often, there’s just not enough room on the sidewalk.

Space we learned again, is a luxury. Step onto the wrong street at the wrong time or desire to show off the power and speed of your riding machine at just the wrong moment, and you just might flirt with tragedy.