Cimbi and I tried going to Morningside Park this weekend. It confirmed that the best, and safest, place for taking a cat outside in Manhattan is Central Park's great lawn.

Cheryl's cat allergy is a dirty little Harlem Fur secret. Ninety-eight percent of the time she keeps her allergies well under control, but Sunday helped make up that two percent when cat dander gets the best of her. Cheryl asked that I take Cimbi to the park so she could rest her nose for a while. Looking to avoid parade day crowding in Central Park, and not wanting to have to protect my animal all day from Staffordshire Terriers in Marcus Garvey Park, we left for Morningside Park after Cimbi climbed into her Sherpa backpack.

Having a cat on a leash can draw a lot of attention, and I was not looking to field questions all day. So, Cimbi and I settled down where I could read the paper on an out of the way patch of grass. At first I was a little apprehensive about the area as five unsupervised kids ranging from 4 to 7 years old were running around nearby. It turned out Cimbi liked them and they liked Cimbi. The only people they were going to bother were themselves, as they spent the afternoon climbing back and forth over an 8 foot tall chain link fence.

Cimbi likes to go to the end of her 16 foot leash and sit there looking at whatever is nearby. It must give her some sense of independence. This has never been an issue.

As the afternoon wore on, I dozed off laying in the grass with the cat's leash in my hand. I was awoken by Cimbi's cries and slight tugs from her leash. When I looked in the direction of where she was, I saw three teens on bikes circling and taunting her, their bikes causing tugs on the leash as they ran over it. They took off as soon as I got up and yelled at them, but Cimbi was terrified for the rest of our time in the park. For the next half of an hour, my otherwise outgoing cat sat glued to me and quivering. The scare ruined the day, so we went home.

Back in the apartment, Cimbi quickly recovered. I went from being her hero to being her chew toy in a matter of hours. Right now she is sitting behind me and is fine.