A Round and a Roundy: Why is Any of This Normal?
Why do we normalize some completely atrocious things about New York life?
By
Streetsblog
12:01 AM EST on January 13, 2022
The other afternoon, a New Yorker was walking along a city sidewalk and was forced to walk out into the middle of the street because the sidewalk was covered with bag after bag of garbage.
Who was this New Yorker? It was literally all of us.
And for some reason, we don’t even question it anymore — don’t even bother to complain about the stubble from New York’s daily 5 o’clock shadow making our sidewalks unpassable.
We mentioned it to our national cartoonist Bill Roundy the other day and he pointed out a bunch of other things about “normal” life in New York that people in other parts of the country would find completely abnormal.
And therein lies this week’s cartoon, another instant classic.
All of Bill Roundy’s cartoons are archived here.
This piece was the work of the Streetsblog staff.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog New York City
Rampant Placard Abuse is Mucking Up This Bike Lane in Downtown Brooklyn
Illegally parked cars with government placards are filling up delivery zones and forcing trucks into the Schermerhorn Street bike lane, DOT said.
April 13, 2026
Mamdani Is Falling Short of New York City’s Greenway Dream
Advocates had hoped Mayor Mamdani would quickly adopt simple policies to improve how the city creates and maintains green infrastructure. He must get back on track, they say.
April 13, 2026
Push Grows To Move Parking Enforcement From NYPD To DOT
Two community boards want the job to go to the agency already in charge of the streets.
April 13, 2026
Monday’s Headlines: A Century of Days Edition
Frankly, there's nothing wrong with taking stock at various milestones, but the mayor's "100th Day" speech was really a look forward. Plus other news.
April 13, 2026
FIRST ON STREETSBLOG: Mamdani To Fully Fund Trash Containerization
The new mayor is restarting the Trash Revolution.
April 12, 2026
Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.