Car Culture and the Fate of the "Urban Manatee"

Maggie Koerth-Baker is a guest blogger on Boing Boing. A freelance science and health journalist, Maggie lives in Minneapolis, brain dumps on Twitter, and writes quite often for mental_floss magazine.

As we all learned in preschool, Muppets are native to New York City, and once freely roamed (in a floppy, yet oddly stiff-limbed sort of way) the whole of the five boroughs. Sadly, those days have passed. But now, kindly urban planning wonks are hoping that new, livable-streets initiatives can help the good old days return.

In the early part of the 1900s, Zozos - large, furry, innocent, purple creatures - once freely roamed New York City's streets, and were seen frequently mingling among its denizens and enjoying the public realm. But with the advent of the automobile their numbers slowly dwindled, until the 1930s when sightings became rare and they were thought to go extinct. But now thanks to a burgeoning livable streets movement and a marked improvement in public spaces in NYC, Zozo sightings have been reported. World-renowned crypto-zoologist Donald Druthers has convinced us to document the facts - and yes, it looks like Zozos could be making a comeback! See the evidence for yourself."

4 Comments

| Leave a comment

Once the C.H.U.D.S. and the Mugwumps finish each other off, the Zozos will have the run of the place!

I thought that the Muppets all moved to Avenue Q?

http://www.avenueq.com/

No cars in new york? I'm game. I somehow find myself (perhaps unfairly) contemptuous of the hardened SUV enthusiast. Perhaps it is due to my nature as a compassionate tree and muppet enthusiast.

You've got to love the Zozo! Car-free NYC now!

Leave a comment

Anonymous

More items

Advisor: My husband has a virtual girlfriend

Meet Koh and Yurie. They're a happily married young Japanese couple who moved from Tokyo to San Francisco a year ago due to a job transfer. In early September, while on a business trip back home, Koh bought a new game cartridge for his Nintendo DS. It was mostly out of curiosity — the Japanese... More.

Documentary about crazy cat ladies

Cat Ladies is a one-hour long documentary about women who are living examples of the "crazy cat lady" stereotype. It was directed by Christie Callan-Jones, and just showed at the San Francisco documentary film festival, which ends tomorrow. ... More.

Bike outfited with one-cylinder engine

Writer Jeroen van Bergeijk lives in The Netherlands but is spending some time in Australia. He's posting his photos and observations on his blog. Today he came across a bike retrofitted with a small one-banger engine. Saw this awesome - or I should say grouse - looking bicycle today when I went ... More.

Seventh foot washes ashore in British Columbia

John Gallone says: "Wanted to keep you informed as to what's afoot in the British Columbia mysterious foot finds. A new appendage was found in Richmond, near Vancouver B.C.,Tuesday October 20, this brings to seven the number of 'Mystery Feet' found so far." The first severed foot, discovered in... More.

Charles Burchfield exhibit at the Hammer Museum in Pasadena, CA

(Two Ravines. 1934. Watercolor on paper.) Doug Harvey of the LA Weekly writes about a Charles Burchfield exhibit at the Hammer Museum in Pasadena, CA called Heat Waves in a Swamp. Between 1916 and 1918 he produced hundreds of watercolors -- half his lifelong output -- each one teeming with symb... More.

Recent Comments