The Big Smoke vs The Big Apple. Part two

There’s been a helicopter circling above the East Village for the past hour or so. A guy sitting on my stoop when I got back from The Arctic Monkeys gig told me that a man had been shot three times in the stomach over on Avenue D. That’s just four blocks east of here in Alphabet City.

I’d just been thinking as I walked back from the subway about things I missed from home. The list is surprisingly short. People: my sister & the hound, my parents and my life-enhancing, fabulous friends. Food: decent butter, M&S houmus & raspberry meringues, and authentic Indian cooking. Then a few random things: Green spaces in the city, Hampstead Heath, cycle lanes that people respect, stylish & inexpensive clothes shops and a regular, wide ranging bus system I understand.

I didn’t think to add less gun crime to the list.