Then, With Outstretched Arms, He Beckoned Me Toward Him'

This week’s Metropolitan Diary pairs a surprising encounter along the East River with several other reader stories from New York transit and neighborhoods. One writer recalls sitting on a bench overlooking the river when a tall, burly man walking a Samoyed stared at him—at first thinking he might be a fellow veteran after noticing a commemorative U.S. Army cap. The man then hugged him and said he looked like his grandpapa, adding that the aftershave smelled the same. Elsewhere, another reader describes spotting a 1970s bicycle outside a brownstone near St. Marks Place, traced to a City of Houston registration decal tied to their parents’ gift. The diary also includes subway book-talk on the 6 train and more anecdotes from solo rides on the 1 line.