Animals | New York History
The Big Cat From the Big Apple
The story of ‘Ming of Harlem.’
It could only happen in NYC. In a housing complex in Harlem fifteen-years ago, a new page in the Big Apple’s already storied history was unexpectedly written thanks, in part, to a big cat found within the concrete jungle.
“There’s a tiger next door…”
On October 3, 2003, the NYPD received a tip from a man’s neighbor that a tiger was residing in the man’s seven-room Harlem apartment, at the Drew Hamilton Houses at 141st and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. Now, even armed with this information, anyone could have been mistaken for dismissing such a claim as nothing more than mundane or a hoax. However, this being New York City of all places, of course, the absurd turned out to be a reality.
After receiving the tip, an officer in blue was sent to the apartment, located on the fifth floor, to investigate the claim, (by this point the tiger’s existence was not yet confirmed.) Then, upon approaching, the officer heard loud growling coming through the closed door, before wisely opting out of opening it.
Three days earlier,
The man, in whose apartment the tiger would be discovered, Antoine Yates, walked into the ER at Harlem Hospital seeking…
