Seen this morning on the UES...

There was a small crowd of people and a few police cars at the east side of the intersection of 1st Avenue and 88th Street this morning when I left for work. I couldn't see what they were all looking at, and when I saw scaffolding on the side of one building on 88th Street, I assumed some poor soul had fallen off the building while working, or that there was a problem at the high school just down the block. There was a guy watching the proceedings from my side of the street, so I asked him what was going on. He said there was a raccoon stuck in a tree and the police were there to get it down. The NYPD had deployed the ultra-sophisticated water hose displacement system in order to persuade the raccoon to vacate its lofty perch. I crossed 1st Avenue to get a better look and took some photos, which Gothamist was kind enough to mention in a post earlier this afternoon. My reaction this morning was a Stephen Colbert-esque "ooh, he's so cute!" However, I don't feel as happy after reading one Gothamist commenter's observation that if the raccoon was out during the day it was probably sick and possibly rabid. So the little guy (or girl) most likely met with a sad end once the cops got it out of the tree. Godspeed, little raccoon buddy. You were too beautiful for this world.