Politics
‘I Made My Last Trip Down the Building’s Worn Marble Stairs ’
A surprise on moving day in Brooklyn, bird song in Bryant Park and more reader tales of New York City in this week’s Metropolitan Diary.
Out of Serviss
Dear Diary:
I was helping my son move out of a third-floor walk-up in Crown Heights. He had worked it out the night before so that we had a parking space right in front of his building for the U-Haul the morning of the move.
The building had an elevator, but it wasn’t working. The same misspelled sign had been draped across the door for a year: “Out of Serviss.”
Sweating as we finished up that morning, I made my last trip down the building’s worn marble stairs and saw a box truck double-parked next to our U-Haul.
Two workmen in hard hats and harnesses were sitting on the building’s stoop and sipping coffee from thermos cups.
Will you be leaving soon, one asked. We have work in the building.
I nodded and smiled, and then fumbled for the key.
As I pulled out, I saw the name of their company on the side of the truck: Brooklyn Elevator Inc.
— Stephen Howe
