Two views of Pacific Park construction workers: "Courtesy in a Hard Hat" and "Like Being in a Shark Tank"

Today's New York Times Metropolitan Diary anecdote, by Elana Rabinowitz, Courtesy in a Hard Hat:

Passing the Pacific Park renovations at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn every morning made my walk to work less appealing. The mammoth cranes, road blockages and omnipresent construction workers added to my reluctance.

However, her skirt hikes up, exposing her butt, unbeknownst to her, and a construction worker, not speaking, alerts her to the miscue:

Now when I see those orange vests and cranes, I feel at ease. I keep looking for that man with the dreads to thank him.

That's a nice story, and I'm sure a good number of construction workers, belying the stereotype, are protective of women. Then again, what hasn't made the Times is the story of a local woman regularly harassed by construction workers--"as a female it is like being in a shark tank just to walk down your own street"--as well as periodically by arena attendees.

By the way, there's no such thing as "Pacific Park renovations at Atlantic Yards." They're not renovations, they're obliterations followed by construction. Pacific Park is the name of the project and a professed "new neighborhood," though it's actually within Prospect Heights. Atlantic Yards is not a place but a discarded brand name.