Neither more nor less

Stanley and one of his 2 dogs just made an appearance on avenue this afternoon . It was the first time we've seen him in some time . For 2 months or so Stanley was at Bellevue for a long rest and a rebuilding of his strength.

Today , a little over-medicated and shakey but certainly healthier and more robust than the last time that we saw him , Stanley was walking one of his dogs , Tiberius , along avenue A . It was good to have him back on the street . Many of us missed him , Stanley having been such a regular and noticeable part of the neighborhood .

Stanley needed the hospital stay because he was just worn-out , not eating well and depressed , mostly by the fact that his landlord was pressuring him : threatening to throw him out of his apartment claiming among other things that he had to remove much of the clutter in his apartment ( see the post titiled "Stanley's Apartment " October 2006 here at NMNL ) and get rid of his dogs . He has lived in his apartment , origianally with his parents , for more than 20 years and for most of those years , at least since his parents passed away, he has had a dog to keep him company .

How many of you readers here have a dog that lives with you as a good friend to keep you company ?Isn't it a bit much to ask that a man must lose his best friend . Isn't it truly heartless and cruel ? But as you must know by now this landlord really wants this apartment ... and to hell with Stanley .

Carmine and some other friends cleaned-out Stanley's place while he was gone and also took care of his dogs. The problem of giving-up his dogs still exists though and it is a very difficult and painful one for Stanley because his dogs are all that he has . It would be a very lonely life and home without them .The people at the city's Department of Adult Protective Services along with MFY legal services have been helping Stanley in these difficult trying times with these matters . For now Stanley still has a home in our neighborhood and he still has a dog .