Two retired New York City Sanitation Department workers, friends since grade school, dusted off a celebratory banner they carried in 1973, the last time the Knicks won a championship.

Pedro Hernandez was convicted in 2017 of kidnapping and murdering the 6-year-old boy, but an appeals court in July had said Mr. Hernandez was entitled to a new trial.

Lovers’ quarrels on sidewalks, acts of kindness on public transportation, friendships forged under awnings in the rain and so much more of the city’s daily poetry.