Mentoria Hutchinson, NYPD’s Dancing Traffic Cop, a city video story from The New York Times:
Telling drivers to stop or go, or turn or go straight, may sound simple, but these are aggravated commuters limping off a traffic-clogged bridge. So Ms. Hutchinson cheers them up with her quickstep shuffle and jaunty gestures.
Every minute or so, the traffic light switches the flow, and she responds like a line dancer, throwing up a fluttering hand to halt cars, and after a sashay and a stylish quarter-turn, waving on the anxious eastbound drivers on 62nd Street between First and Second Avenues.
A quick hand-jive signals stragglers to step on it, or she may stop them by pushing down rhythmically with both hands, never breaking tempo.
Between the rows of moving cars, she struts her stuff and never flinches. Her sneakers pound the painted traffic lines and her uniform — the bright green reflective vest and the white gloves — highlights her moves.
In the archives: more New York City and more personal stories.
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