Creatures in New York City

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Pigeons fly lower these days, rats scamper through the streets, and cockroaches are on subways, streets, and on buildings; yet when one actively looks for them, somehow they seem to go into hiding.  Finding pigeons was not much of an issue, and neither were squirrels if I sat at a park long enough, but squirrels were quite elusive.  I saw many interesting squirrels; one eating newly planted seeds right by a sign that said not to enter the area, one digging for food, another diving in and out of potted plants, and another that slapped a fence as a baby ogled at it.  Yet I could not capture any of these moments; they all disappeared too fast.  There was a pigeon sitting atop the edge of a bench and a woman at the other end; a squirrel climbed up and sat staring at the pigeon, but too close to the women who was startled and scared the squirrel away.

I wanted to capture “creatures,” some bit of nature that we don’t experience we live in a city.  There would be blocks upon blocks of nothing creature related: no sculptures, random art, or actual critters.  Yet creatures are not just from nature, others can create them; representation of creatures also falls under such a category of creation.  I found many more living creatures in Brooklyn and Queens than in Manhattan, yet many more representations in Manhattan.  Centuries ago, the area we know as New York City used to be one of the most biodiverse areas, and as it became industrialized and a center of commerce, the presence of animals has declined.  Then there are the animals that we would never see here like elephants and monkeys, that are interesting to see represented and how we place them.  And there are the humans (that dress up as Elmo or are some sort of green monster creation) that are our creations.

Back home in Queens, there are usually worms in bits of dirt, some ants between the concrete, and perhaps a raccoon at night digging through the trash.  Yet of all the times this has occurred, I could capture none.  There is also a stray cat prowling the streets, yet none passed when I looked for one.  Usually in subway stations, rats can be seen running around the tracks.  At the 14th Street F and M train station, there are cracks in the wall where rats can be seen sometimes scurrying quickly in and out of the holes, swerving around the people on the platforms and sometimes fat rats ambling along, seemingly drunk.  At nights, rats can be seen scampering right in front of a person walking in the street.  I positioned myself and I waited.  And the creatures never appeared.

There was a moment on the subway where there was a cockroach climbing on the window that my friend killed and another where a moth the size of a palm was scaring some people.  Yet I didn’t have a camera at the ready, and was even if I did, wouldn’t want others to think I was some strange person taking these photos.  It’s interesting how people react in front of the camera; I tried not to include them in the photos, and sometimes not so discreetly walked by and took the shot as I passed.  Many of the photos are zoomed in and cropped because of this.  Perhaps if I just pretended I were a tourist, I could’ve taken more time with each shot.  But then again, I wouldn’t know quite what I was looking for.