Journalism lesson #1

It's 8 a.m., and I've been in my beat for over three hours.

You read that right.

I got up at 3 a.m. and shipped out to Astoria/LIC in time for the Rikers Island drop-off. (FYI - discharged RI inmates are dropped off at Queensboro Plaza station at 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday.)

"Why?", you ask.

I'd heard from a source that former inmates were causing ruckus in the neighborhood and harassing the staff at the 24-hour joints by the drop-off location. So I thought I'd go see, then chat up the night staff at the local donut shops, news agents, and convenience stores.

I sat. I waited. I watched.

Nothing happened.

OK, not quite. They got there. They bought coffee. Then they left.

And no one had any complaints - not the shopkeepers, not the patrol cop, not the random pedestrians.

This is why you always get more than one source.

Got a full day of meetings ahead. Better order another coffee.