When you've been myopic for a long time and used to annual ophthalmic exams, it's totally instinctive to cover an eye when asked to read an eye chart!
6
My mother was born and raised (proudly) in the Bronx, the daughter of a nurse and a NYPD detective who met my grandmother when he was shot and she was his nurse. My mom left NYC when my father (whom she met at when they both worked at Lenox Hill Hospital) was commissioned as a Navy doctor and stationed in every hell-hole in the 1960s South. Her Bronx accent emerges rarely: as soon as we re-enter the city, and also at odd times. We were playing Scrabble recently and she completed the words "ADDA" on the board. With great ceremony, she tallied up her large triple-letter/double-word score. "ADDA"? I said, "What's THAT?" "It's a snake," she said. I shook my head and crossed out the score. You can take the girl out of the Bronx, but don't even try to take the Bronx out of the girl.
3
Fifty years ago in Putnam County my first driver's license eye test included checking for color blindness. I was worried as that condition runs in my family. I shouldn't have. The test was also given while standing in line and merely remembered and repeated the answers the test-taker in front of me had given.
6
I went into the DMV in Prattsville and I asked the lady at the counter why the river seemed to be so high and she said, "I wouldn't know about that I don't live here." "Oh", I said, "Where do you live?". She said, "Two miles up the road".
4
I met a guy on the subway and he told me his boyfriend was breaking up with him because he thought he spent too much money. Turns out he was giving it all to homeless people. I said, “Why dont you tell him the truth?”. He said, “I dont want him if he cant accept me as not perfect." I said, "Honey you dont have to worry about that".
5
I have spent a little time in NYC on only three occasions, but the city's influence touches all of American culture. Last February, my wife and I spent a few days in Midtown Manhattan. Even though we are the quintessential bumpkins, we were treated with kindness and civility by almost everyone we met. In our experience, those urbane New Yorkers were at least as hospitable as residents of the American West-- some of whom can be a trifle xenophobic at times. And we were within an easy walk of MOMA, Broadway, the Metropolitan Museum, etc., etc...it is a city every American should be proud of.
25
@Robert Wilson Thanks, Robert! I lived in NYC for 5 years and I found NYers to be incredibly friendly. You just have to ask, and not be put out by the fact that no one nods hello on the sidewalk. (Not viable when you’re passing by hundreds of people, but this seems to elude many visitorsI) was on the subway one morning when a lady got on and did not seem to realize that, somehow, she had what looked like drops of milk on the shoulder of her coat. But three passengers seemed to all notice simultaneously. Next thing you know she was surrounded by all three, blotting her off with napkins and tissues, and sending her on her way good as new.
5
I like wry stories. I liked Catcher in the Rye.
1
I grew up in New York. I left it at 23, over fifty years ago. Haven't been back since 2001, shortly before 9/11. I still miss it, it's still my home town though I know what I miss has changed a lot. I love reading Metropolitan Diary for it's everyday (mostly) take on a place that still owns my heart.
14
I love this! I too left NYC 6 years ago! But I feel homesick all the time. I’ll see if I can sign up for alerts too.
3
I reversed the typical voyage. Soon after my beloved wife died, I sold my house in suburban Maryland, disposed of almost everything and moved to Manhattan. I live in one bedroom apartment in Murray Hill where everything is convenient and within a walk or a short ride.
I take the 6 to Chinatown for lunch or eat wonderful arancini at Norma's Sicilian on 3d Ave.
Two weeks ago, just demonstrate the level of NY-style convenience, I ordered an ice cream cone delivered. My pantry is a D'Agostino's, Trader Joe's or Fairway.
I love NY.
41
Though she does not drive anymore my wife had double vision since her birth and drove with an eye patch to see the road as single vision ,she never had an accident nor ticket in 45 years of driving.
18
@ lynda & margo,, 1. bumpy ride came from " all about eve "
said by bette davis ( movie name - margo )
2. try reading old streetscapes column by
christopher gray re quips and historical
buildings. ( 1987 to 2014 ).
3
Spinach roll! SPINACH ROLL!
Great little vignette tgat evoke nostalgic recollections of the sights, accents and flavours of NYC.
19
Enjoyed the Bay Ridge bus story, having attended Xaverian high school on Shore Road & 71st Street in the 1960s. When school was out, half the students got the B9 and the other half (including me) the long-defunct B34 bus, both of which would circle round on Shore Road to the end of the line at 69th Street. If you showed your student transit pass, you could board without paying the fare, which at the time was 15 or 20 cents. Xaverian was all-boys then (it's co-ed now and includes a middle school), and the bus, um, ambiance, usually became quite boisterous (boy-sterous?). I remember once how a woman passenger couldn't take it anymore and finally yelled out, "SHUT UP!" The whole bus went silent for moment, then we all burst into laughter -- including the woman who'd (quite understandably) let off steam. Will never forget that moment.
44
@Viseguy- A few years ago in a book about Grand Central an episode involving Timothy Curley- conductor on the Harlem line branch of Metro North was described- a bunch of rowdy schoolboys were near a quiet elderly woman. Conductor Curley went up to the boys and said " if this lady is bothering you let me know" with similar results as your story-
44
how in h did i miss this? and why cannot i find a place to subscribe to it. argh!! i love every one of these!!!
22
Dear jbarbour,
If you enter Metropolitan Diary in the search bar of The Times online edition you will come up with a large number of past columns which you will find equally enjoyable.
Stay well,
Allen
23
I entered my exile when I was 10. NY will always be home.
19
@Anna Kavan I only spent a summer there at age 7 but it does feel like home to me. Thankfully I married someone who grew up there, and we visit often.
6
@Anna Kavan
My grandparents who raised their children in Indianapolis came from Brooklyn, and never lost their Brooklyn brogue. I proudly call myself one quarter New Yorker.
10
@Lisa. I was born in NYC and moved away at three,but my grands lived their entire lives,into their 90s,in Manhatten.In Savannah I exchanged greetings with an elderly docent and noticed his brogue. You're from New York , I exclaimed. No I'm not he bristled, I'm from Brooklyn.
15
Great stories that confirm my decision to leave New York!!
4
I spent a summer in New York after college. I live elsewhere and always have but I still read NY news in at least three publications. Thus my moniker.
9
I loved reading D.M.V, Walking the Dog, Still in Touch and Kicks.
Actually it’s a practice to close one eye when we are asked to read something usually by an Eye Specialist or Ophthalmologist As such that gentleman exactly did the same. However it seems D.M.V official got annoyed for the reason mentioned in the story.
Walking the Dog is interesting. Normally we find people shy. As such they are reluctant to speak with others whether they come across others while walking or in some gatherings but the dog feeling shy is news to me.
Still in touch is very interesting to read. It’s difficult to forget New York after living for such a longtime. I lived in New York only for 4 years but I always like to keep in touch with it more than Mumbai where I spent more than a decade. The writer’s thankfulness for avoiding local train delays is understood but it’s part and parcel of city life.
Kicks story is interesting to read too. Thankfully the ladies could kick freely in the moving train. That perhaps indicates the train didn’t have many passengers and that they could freely do some tango.
5
The dog story had me in splits. Thanks.
21
Good Morning, to all of you lovely people, Your letters and the column are so warm, and make me miss NYC. While I never lived in the city, I lived in Ct. and had a kid living there so had many opportunities to stay, when they went away and was so close I could go in for the day, or even dinner and did.
I have always said, NYC is the greatest city in the world, and Paris is the most beautiful. I adore SF, and always did, my dream as a kid was to live there.
fast forward I divorce for the second time almost 5 years ago and said I am going to Paris, after 3 years I can't wait to get out.
It is nothing but a museum now, for only office workers and tourist on electric scooters. a menace. Paris is finished, as I hear Rome is also.
Now I am certain NYC is the greatest city in the world, People are great and it has so much to offer in the way of food, fashion and art. I love you NYC, and all of you, but, I can't afford you.
I am off to Bologna, here we go, reading this makes me so home sick, but keep doing it. kisses from the other side.
41
This column is wonderful-grew up in the city and still love it and this brings it to life again-the human and personal aspect that makes it so
special-Thanks for publishing this
15
@J Martin
I've been a country bumpkin for 95% of my 80 years, so for me it's a treat to read city tales. I used to visit NYC when my younger sister lived there, and I met my husband (of 57 years) while living (for one year) in New Haven. I look out our window in rural Maine and smile at these stories.
Oh, but we have lived in rural France for a bit of the time as well.
3
Lived in Manhattan years ago and these diaries bring me fond memories of my time there.
12
The piece about leaving NYC really resonated with me; I moved from Brooklyn to California three years ago and still have my radio set to WNYC. That being said, I prefer to love NYC from afar; whenever I visit, the excitement wears off in about three days, and then it’s all trash, congestion, and endless subway delays. My heart will always love you NY, but the rest of me loves the green mountains and clear skies of Northern California better!
17
Allison,
I left NYC 10 years ago and I’m still in denial. Not a day passes where I don’t miss the city, and miss who I am in the city. Every time I come back to visit I’m a fish back in water; I’m whole and I know I’m home.
32
I don't live in NY, I still love these stories.
91
I love this column more and more every time I read it. It makes me feel that maybe we can keep from destroying ourselves.
86
Loved the dancers-on-the-subway story! That instant connection & joy in the moment makes this city a gem. For the infinite variety of humanity nothing can top it!
64
@Salix, that story keeps making me think of the never-produced show Alan Menken did BEFORE he became a household name working with Disney called "Kicks" and this great song
"I Wanna be a Rockette" from Alan Menken and Tom Eyen's "Kicks" - here sung by Debbie Shapiro Gravitte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVbwoPAVUsU
and truly liberating, even done by the L.A. Gay Men's Chorus!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dF_M6dklhg
8
Kudos to the artist for Metro Diaries. I am enjoying the drawings now, in the middle of the night, using the Samsung smartphone "negative colors" feature.
33
Each of these vignettes are about moving from one place to another: getting a license to drive, travel by train, bus or hearing about traffic. Many of the readers comments are people sharing comings and goings from NYC. There's a friendliness about it all and that in this day and age this column is a welcome relief. I look forward to reading Metropolitan Diary & enjoy the freshness of the drawings. How nice to turn to a column and find comfort.
104
What a great of bunch of stories this week! The one about NYC struck me in particular. I lived in Manhattan for 22 years before moving upstate to raise a family. I came to love it there but never lost the homesick feeling I had about New York. As soon as my son left home I came back! And now he’s here too.
58
I don’t understand why folks do this. (I was raised in the city and turned out just fine.) Gotta roll my eyes on that one. Glad it all worked out for you... as a print ad from my youth put it, “you always come back to the basics.”
4
Re the DMV story: Be thankful the DMV has an eye test. Recently, at my local DMV, an elderly men was renewing his driver's license. He appeared to neither see nor hear very well. A helper (his daughter?) held him up to keep him from falling over. They renewed his license promptly without a question. See, some things are better in NY.
65
@Bob
Renewing the license or the state ID?
Long after my mother stopped driving, she had a driver's license for identification. Then the state ID came out she had a form of ID that didn't require a license
12
@Bob:
Agree! Here in Florida people can and do renew their drivers licenses by mail from their "home" state. Many retired people do this.....I recall an accident where an 80-something year old man hit a bunch of kids at a bus stop...he said he thought they were "trash cans"......!
12
@Bob
I lived in Chattanooga for awhile and went to the DMV to have a stolen drivers license replaced. In that office, the eye test was performed using a "black box" that was designed to test eyesight. There was a couple standing next to it, and the wife, who was being tested, was peering into it, but she could not make out the information, so she told her husband (in their native language) to look at it and tell her what he saw. The person behind the counter was exasperated, because the couple would not stop looking at and discussing what they saw. It took about five minutes until the woman was told to come back and try again. Her husband said, "Why? I am always with her when she drives. She does not need to know what the signs say!" At that point, we were suppressing laughter so forcibly that tears were falling down our faces. It's hard to argue with that logic.
4
Re Ms Kahn's story:
Sigh. We left SF after nearly 25 years, my entire out-of-the-closet life up until then. I have to admit I cried driving across the Bay Bridge but it was time to move on. A slower, cheaper, retired lifestyle awaited. Now that I'm back in Indiana, I know that closets are only for the seasonal change of clothing.
For years I listed to SF's KFOG radio station on the computer. It was the only station, played constantly, on our house sound system. I loved hearing the traffic reports and weather. Dave Morey's mellifluous commentary during 10@10 was the highlight of each day. When Dave retired, I e-mailed a mash note to the station and it was read on-air.
Unfortunately, KFOG slowly disintegrated and I finally had to quit listening. I've been reading SFGATE online for years but that too is slowly disintegrating. Time to move on.
Leaving SF was the right thing to do. Regrets? While we miss our friends, I still stay in contact via long-winded e-mails. We also miss the food; it's available in Indiana but it just takes longer to scout it out and we usually have to cook it ourselves. An annual trip to SF for a week or so is about all I can stand now. I'm quickly reminded why we left.
When traveling and asked where I'm from I always reply, "I'm from San Francisco but I'm currently living in Indiana."
51
@Thom Johnston My story is similar to yours (including the love for the late KFOG), except I couldn't wait to cash out after 30 years to live a peaceful, soul-nourishing life in the mountains.
The only things I miss about San Francisco are Mission-style burritos and the variety of Asian food. Cheers.
21
@Thom Johnston, it took me about a decade to fully let SF go (after about 16 years there). I moved within (long) driving distance, not across the continent, so for a few years I kept going back to SF see my dentist, my hair stylist, have art framed, do some serious shopping, eat some real food, visit museums, see interesting people, and generally remember what it was like to lead a much more sophisticated life than I do here. I had one foot wedged firmly in the City, and the one perched precariously in the countryside. I read the SF newspaper, watched the Bay Area news. When strangers asked where I was from, I blurted out “San Francisco,” without thinking. I truly mourned my former world! But while I watched SF change for the worse, year by year, my roots were quietly growing deep down into the soil of my rural home. I’ve long since settled in here, and become determinedly and comfortably unfashionable. No one here cares about being on trend. Today I drove into town and, unknowingly, did my grocery shopping with a large pair of garden scissors wedged into my back pocket. I didn’t notice them until I returned home. As I say, I have adapted to my new life. Sometimes I discover only when going to bed that I have pieces of branches stuck in my hair.
I barely recognize San Francisco now. I wish I had held onto my house there (now worth more than ten times what I paid for it), but I have no other regrets. SF is no longer the place I loved.
23
@Randy, oh, the burritos! El Farolito! Also a Burmese restaurant that was out in the Richmond, and a Korean place, and a few wonderful dim sum places, and a knock-out Chinese place downtown and...just food in general. Bakeries! That aspect of SF has not changed. The food is still amazing. Always will be, I’m sure.
7
I left New York City three years ago after spending my entire adult life there, since 1977. Even though I live on the other coast now, I read the local NYC news to see what's going on: the 45 minute backups at the Holland Tunnel, the subway delays, and the hijinks in Washington Sq Park make me feel good... it's so familiar. I will always love you, New York, I just can't live with you anymore.
73
@Schkipperkee
Totally agree. Born and raised in NYC, we left in 1982 when in our late 20’s and never looked back (the city was a mess). As annual visitors it’s fun to see the city as a tourist but it takes only one ride on the D train to make me long for mountains, prairies and less people!
24
"It took me nearly six months to update “home” on my GPS with my new, non-New York City address."
Sorry to be a downer, but for security reasons your GPS should never have an address called "home". If someone steals the device, they will then know where you live.
You can still have the address on your GPS, just call it something else.
45
"You cannot be serious?" Your phone doesn't have a password? How about your laptop?
1
@Steve My phone is locked so a casual thief will never learn my home address if they even cared. Someone capable of breaking in, i.e. the FBI and NSA, already know a lot more about me than where I sleep.
5
@Steve
Or set the home address a couple of blocks from your real address. Good enough for you but incorrect enough to put off others. We got in that habit from having a house newer than the map in the car. It thinks that we we do go home we are 'off roading'.
6
Regarding the story involving the DMV clerk, my father actually did drive around New York with only one eye.
He lost an eye in Army Air Corps training (numerous, varied explanations of how it happened were received over the years), so for all of my years he drove, and practiced dentistry, with only one eye.
I remember many a scary drive down the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan, but I can’t recall he ever had an accident. He just drove like a New Yorker, fast but confident, despite his limited field of vision.
44
I have lived in a few cities but their is no place like NYC. A few years ago in New Orleans they ran a contest in the local paper for best restaurants and they came up with a top ten. I told a friend in NYC, they would have had to say what cuisine, what section of town and what price range just to get started on that kind of list. He laughed until he realized I was serious.
64
I have never even been in NYC except twice, fleetingly, as a tourist, but I have read so much about it -- I long to spend some time there. I have lived both in San Francisco and in small rural towns (I mean SMALL -- low 4 figures) in Northern California, and I have loved them both equally. While in the city I longed for peace and natural beauty, but now I miss the urban energy and the diversity in every category that contributes to it; I could ride a city bus or walk down the street and just soak it up.
29
@VGraz
"Small"?! The small Maine town I live in has fewer than 800 residents (not counting, of course, summer people).
When I am depressed with reading the "news" in the NYTimes, usually I turn to crossword puzzles or the New Yorker magazine to escape. But every once in a while, now I can escape to Metropolitan Diaries.
1
I was born in Brooklyn in 1945 and moved to New Jersey in 1958. I still consider myself a New Yorker; luckily I get to visit frequently. There is no place like it. I found this column recently and look forward to reading it each week. It captures the vibe completely.
58
@BiggMaama
I was born in Manhattan in 1944. We moved from the City in 1946, though my Dad commuted for the rest of his life. Mother took me there for school shopping, hair cuts. Thanks to an aunt who lived in the Shelton Hotel, I learned to ice skate at Rockefeller Center. I lived on the upper East Side briefly in 1964. I've been in Philadelphia for 40 years, but when people ask me where I'm from, I respond NY. Where else?
57
@Hannah
I am also a 1944 baby. Orbach's for Columbus Day sales on winter coats, Alexander's for sweaters and Best & Co. for haircuts.
4
Dear Hannah and Anon,
Another 1944 Manhattan-born NYC war baby salutes you both. Inwood proved a wonderful neighborhood to grow up in, and retains its charms. Home is indeed where the heart is, and that is always New York City.
Cheers,
Allen
5
This is the first time I’ve read this column. I have been missing out!
107
@Joe, you are so lucky, because they're all online, and you get to experience so many wonderful tales of New York as totally new.
If you just randomly google a week that's online, you're in for endless treats. The Diary is almost never grounded in its day of printing, so it's as good reading in any year, by nature of what it is.
38
@Joe Welcome from a fellow Buckeye! I have found the Diary to not only be an immersive weekly column about life in the city, but a community where we can all gather and appreciate the humanity we share via the comments...
32
As I prepare to relocate after a lifetime here, I take comfort in Ms. Kahn's story and the subsequent comments. Wish me luck!
65
@Lynda G.
Not sure where you're headed to, but wherever it is I hope you are happy in your new "home" . Best of luck to you.
43
@Margo Channing
Thank you Margo, and to quote you, "fasten your seatbelts,, it's going to be a bumpy ride"!
4
Dear Lynda G.,
I hope it won’t be too bumpy a ride and wish you good health and many good times in your new home.
Allen
4
I lived near Prospect Park from I was 2 until I was 4 years old, arriving by ship from Northern Ireland in 1948. The very day after landing, myself and another little immigrant girl called Mary Bach were on the front page of one of NY’s tabloid newspapers. In the photo, I was bawling my head off. I don’t know the exact date nor the newspaper. We returned to Ireland in 1950 after my mother developed cancer.
I now live just outside Boston but NYC has always claimed a part of my heart. I look forward every week to reading Metropolitan Diary.
83
Yeah, I live in Hawaii now and still read the NY section of the times and get some alerts.
41
dear allison,
until i was 1 we lived in the belnord on west 86 st. after college in brooklyn, i lived on east 86 st for 20 years, moving 2 hours north 25 years ago.
i know exactly what you mean...
24
It’s been a long time
Since someone got a real kick
Out of the subway
158
The ex-Nyorker Diary post, reminded me, also an ex, if you count Long Island. Driving home from “The City” on night on the LIE we passed a sign warning “Icing Conditions!” It was July.
I thought, perhaps a fish truck turned over and switched to Grand Central. Better safe than sorry.
36
The story about the tough dog who wasn’t so tough reminds me of a wonderful picture book by Michelle Knudsen called “Big Mean Mike.” Share it with your kids, your grandkids or just enjoy it yourself.
Mike is proud to be the biggest, toughest dog in the neighborhood, so when tiny, fuzzy bunnies start showing up in his big, mean car he sees them only as a threat to his reputation, no matter how adorable they are.
24
@Allison:
My issue with that otherwise cute story is that NO dog should wear a "spiked" collar...there has been terrible painful damage done.
2
I dont live in NYC, I have never lived in NYC, but I am addicted to NYToday and specifically, The Metropolitan Diary. More specifically, the sketch artist who so succinctly captures each day's essence. Bravo!
164
@Mary Bucklew I don't even live in America and Metropolitan Diary is still an absolute favourite of mine, as are the sketches. Always wonderful.
124
@James Tapscott I started subscribing to the NYTimes 9 years ago after my second visit to NYC (haves been 5 times now). It helps me feel like a "local" and staves off a form of home sickness until I visit again. Maybe it's a Victorian thing?
39
@James Tapscott Forgot to mention/ boast that I even had a Diary article published back in 2017. Very exciting!!
34
Love all the stories especially Veronica's. I rode the B9 everyday from Shore Road to HS at the now closed Bishop Kearney and this is absolutely something that would have happened in Bay Ridge! Makes me miss home.
26
As always, thanks to the writers for such beautiful stories. I especially liked the one about the dogs. Just goes to show you that you can't tell the dog by his leather jacket.
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