The Ramble and Racism

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“One of the few spots in the New York city where visitors can get happily lost, the Ramble, at thirty-six acres, offers a variety of intimate scenic enclaves that include the Gill, a tiny stream the wanders through the area, and the Ramble Arch. Located on the west side of the Ramble, hidden in the dense foliage of trees and shrubbery, the Ramble Arch carries a narrow walkway above with an intersecting footpath below it is one Central Park’s most picturesque bridges.

Created by Olmsted and Vaux as an untamed counterpart to the more formal designs of the Mall and Bethesda Terrace the Ramble was still the product of painstaking planning. Virtually every feature was carefully placed to give the illusion of untouched, completely natural woodland. At almost every turn along its meandering trails the visitor is presented with another visual treat.

The Ramble is also a bird watchers paradise where more than 270 species have been spotted in one year alone. The city is right in the middle of one of North America’s busiest migratory routes and the birds, like millions of other of the city’s visitors, stop by to take advantage of the many amenities. The Ramble offers an inviting spot to water and eat in preparation for the trip north.”

The Ramble is a birder’s paradise in the city; one can always find birders with their cameras and telephoto lenses out to spot the next picture and snare it.

The Ramble, as a virtual bird sanctuary requires that within the  proscribed 35 acres all dogs must be leashed.  You can walk your dog anywhere in the Ramble provided it is leashed at all times. Within the  park itsself there are hundreds of acres where you  can let your dog run free, but not in the Ramble.

Of course there are always some entitled New Yorkers who feel the rules do nt apply to them.  Birders will remind them of the prominently posted signs – Dogs must be leased.  Usually it is not a big deal.   Sheepish owners will restrain their dog.

For others the birders have begun carrying a small bag of doggie treats.  When the owner ignores them, the birder will hold up a treat and place it on the ground.  The dog of course will go for it immediately;.  Its owner, not wanting his dog to eat a treat from a stranger will scowl and then leash the dog.

In the above video we have an “entitled” New York professional woman, derisively called by locals as a “Karen” in the ramble with her dog not on a leash.  She was politely reminded by a birder, a black man. that all dogs are required to be leashed.  When she balked, he put down a treat causing her to restrain her dog.

She got confrontational.

And he wisely turned on his camera as she called 911 requesting the police.

“I’m going to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life.”

Do you think the police would have detained and questioned  our birder if there was no video evidence?

You bet your ass.

Our birder’s sister posted the video and our entitled Karen who works at Franklin Templeton was placed on administrative leave as the company investigates.  She has since apologized.

She should,  Without the video he could possibly have been sent to prison on her testimony alone.  Who’s not going to believe a hysterical white woman calling 911 about being accosted by a black man?

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