New York’s Dancing Traffic Cop
Last week, I was walking by 57th & 2nd Avenue when I noticed a bunch of people filming a traffic officer with their phones. At first, I was confused – then I started watching, and it all made sense.
There are several dancing traffic officers in the city, but I believe this is Mentoria Hutchinson, who the NY Times profiled last year. Now 62, she’s been a traffic cop since 1980 (!!). Why dance? “You ever seen anyone dance and be mad?…It’s the best way to keep yourself happy!”
-SCOUT
I frequently enjoy Mentoria’s dance routine on my block of E62nd St., where she sometimes directs traffic coming off the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan and eastbound drivers trying to get to the FDR. She makes an otherwise nightmarish mid-block intersection a real pleasure to cross.
I thinks she also briefly appears in Seinfelds “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” series, the Todd Barry episode.
Is no one here old enough to remember footage of dancing cops on “Candid Camera” WAAAAAAY back in the day…?
Belated comment here, but the Candid Camera dancing traffic cop was Vic Cianca from Pittsburgh. He also appeared in Flashdance!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ULzdD_0GXA