N.Y. Today: No Place to Go When You Need to Go? These New Yorkers Have Ideas

The city's lack of public restrooms has led to long lines and some uncomfortable situations.

The Mini Crossword: Here is today's puzzle.

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Metropolitan Diary: Kind Eyes

Dear Diary:

One year, after decorating my Christmas tree, I noticed that it was crooked and about to fall over. I leaned it up against the wall until I could run out in the morning to get a larger stand.

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It was raining when I woke up. I put on a hat and ran to the nearest tree lot, at Spring Street and Lafayette. I was wearing the clothes I'd slept in and I hadn't brushed my teeth.

"Excuse me," I asked the man there. He was sitting inside a little booth that was covered with twinkling lights and reading a book. "Do you sell tree stands?"

The eyes that looked back at me were the kindest I had ever seen.

I had never asked anyone out before. I was terrified to do it and terrified not to. The thought of walking past those trees every day and not knowing more about this impossibly handsome man was unbearable.

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After returning home and getting my tree straightened out, I put on clothes that were not pajamas and marched down to the coffee shop. I bought a hot chocolate and wrote my number on the cup.

I must have walked around the block five times before I got the guts to walk back up to him. An hour later my phone rang. It was Jose.

He thanked me for having the courage to come back and asked if I'd like to go with him to see the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting.

Afterward, we told each other our life stories over a bottle of wine at a bar at Grand Central. I must have been on the nice list that year.

— Stephanie Najor

New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. You can also find it at nytoday.com.

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