“The Other NYC” ; Photo credit: Inge Vandormael

There is the hum of traffic in soft undertone. The contralto of people punctuated by the crescendo of a child who was refused a treat or dropped his toy. The bark of dogs weaves in: one low and deep, another yipping in the determination of the pocket-small. A truck lumbers over a rut in the road, a phone rings, a door slams. A bus beeps as it kneels for passengers, again when it rises up. An ambulance wails, its falsetto undulating in inverse proportions to distance and urgency. A firetruck follows in a fortissimo of horns. In the relative silence that ensues, a bird chirps and a pigeon coos response. Pianissimo. The city breathes. Then a traffic light changes, a motor revs, and a few notes of rap beat an open-window-escape. Another bus rolls to a stop, beep-kneels, sighs-up. More people’s voices modulate the presto of a toddler’s laugh. The rumbling of a motorcycle answers the low groan of a heavy truck. More dogs yip and bark. Someone inexplicably whistles Brahms.

City Symphony. An orchestra of urban life in virtuoso intervals.

For The Daily Post