From The New York Shitty Inbox: An Update Regarding The Mark Bar Raccoon

(Or, make that: raccoons)

I asked for it and I got it: the skinny on what happened at the Mark Bar Tuesday night. K writes:

It’s true:  I first came across a baby raccoon near the Mark Bar late Tuesday night.  It was the size of a kitten, and appeared scared and lost.  I followed, then cornered it as I called 311: there was nothing anyone could do, the responder said; ASPCA was closed till morning.

Then last night there were about a half dozen police officers – and another half dozen onlookers – outside the Mark Bar with a spotlight directed toward the roof; cushions lined the sidewalk.  Sure enough, you could see raccoons scurrying about in a hole near the roof molding.  Apparently two had already fallen (hence the cushions).

I later found out the baby raccoon I tried to save on Tuesday was put to sleep.  So was an adult yesterday.  Another baby was let loose in McCarren Park; a third baby is….. well, living in a cage in the Mark Bar right now.

The first good news is that the raccoon didn’t seem to be injured at all. It did lie on the ground not moving for about 90 seconds, then was up and walking. Cooperation between patrons and staff from the Mark Bar and Tommy’s Tavern brought a plastic cat carrier to the scene, and the raccoon was placed inside with the plan for someone to take him home for the night in the hopes that arrangements could be made today to get him to a safe place. I don’t know what happened with that today; a woman who had just left the Mark Bar was contacted by phone and said she worked with some wildlife organizations and may be able to find a place. Someone else had volunteered just to set it loose in his backyard.

There were at least two more still up there, peeking outside. Somebody called the police, from what I saw there was one actual cop and five or six auxiliaries standing around. After one made a crack about “target practice” and was met with anger from the crowd, they ended up doing nothing. The cop said that since there was no immediate danger it wasn’t their concern.

Another raccoon had also fallen the night before. That time, as I understand it, the police responded and took it, saying it would be euthanized — but that’s second hand. But that’s why the bar staff didn’t want NYPD to be called this time. However, no one could be reached at Animal Control and 311 had no other help to offer.

Miss Heather