A hilarious article about portables in NYC by the NY Times. We're not alone. But eight years later, Mr. Cosby, 46, is busier than ever as an all-around handyman for the seven timeworn trailers that house 283 students outside the crowded main school building. He has chased opossums, raccoons and turtles from the alleys around the corrugated metal structures, which were installed in the 1990s and now resemble battered railroad cars. He has laid traps to catch mice and scrubbed the floors of their droppings; mended roofs and lights and air-conditioners; patched many holes and installed new floors where water seeped in from below. Shortly after he took office, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg vowed that New York City would get rid of all “transportable classroom units” by 2012. But today, 7,158 students, most of them in the beginning grades, are still learning in them, a testament to the struggle to keep up with rapid neighborhood growth, as well as to the magical powe...