Larry Desgaines sat on a piece of cardboard atop a damp rock near the mouth of a large sewer drain in Queens on a recent Friday evening.
In the water, which, improbably, did not stink of sewage, two men in a canoe sat very still.
As the sun dipped behind Roosevelt Island, another man sitting by the entrance of the tunnel banged on a metal pipe with a stick.
The canoe’s frontman, wearing a Tyrolean hat, yodeled: “Willkommen!” He drew out the final syllable, and his voice amplified and echoed in the tunnel.
As the song ended, the canoe disappeared into the sewer, leaving only echoes behind.
Persons:
Larry Desgaines, “, ”, Roosevelt
Locations:
Queens, New York City