“On the afternoon of June 3, at 15th Street and Jerome Avenue,” Astorian Judith Altruda wrote, “a lot of people were stopped in the road, picking up baseball cards blowing in the wind. Finding several cards myself, I walked up to the group and asked what was happening.

“Someone’s quite large collection had been dumped in the road. No one knew why. An Astoria policeman with a plastic ‘evidence’ bag (a garbage sack) gathered the loose cards and said they would be held for safekeeping at the police station if the owner wanted to claim them. I thought of you and your column, in case you want to follow up … and maybe it will help reunite the owner with their cards?”

As Astoria Police Department chief, Stacy Kelly, explained, “we still have the cards. Officer Alex Whitney was the responding officer, and placed them into our property and evidence.” So if they’re yours, contact the police department.

“I was struck by how nice this community is — strangers stopping to pick up cards, just jumping into action,” Altruda added. “Cars were backed up on 15th Street for a while, but no one honked their horns. It was a nice hometown moment.” (Photo: Judith Altruda)