Free Republic

In Arden Street, people begin to climb out of their windows and onto their fire escapes in the morning, to take that first sip of coffee, to make that first check of the northern Manhattan weather. Afternoons, they come out in greater numbers and for longer spells, cultivating plants, draping laundry and gazing down at the children playing volleyball or stickball. The nurses, doormen and transit workers of Arden boomerang back to Inwood just before sunset. They unwind on their fire escapes, a cold Corona or a warm plate of rice and beans in hand. Then, as the slatted shadows...