Seriously, it has to be 40+ years since anything at Yankee Stadium cost a dollar, if then.
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@Ben
I wondered the same thing. It's still a sweet sentiment, though.
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@Ben - LOL! Plus I wonder how the kids were going to get home if they spent the dollar there anyway.
I wonder if it was meant as similar to someone giving you a dollar or two in change and joking "Don't spend it all in one place!"
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These are such wonderful vignettes to start the day. I especially appreciate them in these troubling times. Thanks!
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A little late (?) and I have never ridden the NY subway; but, having read many stories about them here I would opine that they seem much better than any of the multiple Amtrak experiences/disasters in my life.
2
I'm a New York native who's been living in self-imposed exile in Richmond, VA for the past 40 years. And while I do come back to visit several times a year, these Metropolitan Diary vignettes help me feel like I'm still a New Yorker between visits: they always capture the essence of living in New York in a way that only those who do or have lived there can.
Thanks to all the writers, this week and every week, and, as others have noted, thanks to Agnes Lee for the wonderful illustrations.
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Re the parking attendant; I have freaked out a number of customers when I remembered them from a prior visit to a store I worked at in a suburb north of Chicago. We would have a big sale the day after Christmas, and women would line up to enter when we opened at 8 am to snag their favorite items at half price. A customer who only shopped the sale nearly keeled over when I told her the sweater she was buying would go nicely with the green corduroy pants she purchased the year before! While she was pleasantly surprised that I remembered her and her purchase, another customer got practically belligerent when I called her by name, she was so put out that I remembered her name! Fortunately, most liked being recognized!
If you are in the service industry, it’s always nice to remember something about your customer. It makes them feel valued. Conversely, those of us in service industry appreciate being recognized and treated respectfully.
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These are all warm tales
Hot Chocolate Will Do the Trick
Cartwheels on Broadway
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Another Monday evening brightened by this column.
Thank you💛
37
"Express or Local?" On a train I was on, the conductor kept asking, so he could make an announcement. He never got an answer. Finally, he announced, "I don't know, folks. Take a chance - step in and watch the closing doors."
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Five entries that were knocked out of the park this week!
And yes, Ms Lee’s illustrations are wonderful too!
See everyone next Monday!
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@Roger Fortune
If memory serves me, I was the house production manager during that time, and mixed the Michael Urbaniak shows. The drummer you're referring to was Steve Jordan who went on to have quite an amazing career, backing up Keith Richards and working as a producer and drummer on scores of records.
Glad you enjoyed the show !
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Wonderful unexpected smile wrapped in a news article... little things that brighten my day, thank you!
33
The F train story reminds me of the argument the PA announcers get into at the airport in the beginning of Airplane! Classic...
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You say local-o, I say express-o!
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Local, Express: I remember when I used to ride the subway the PA systems were so bad it didn't matter what they said, it was all static to me!
Short Bronx: I got on the wrong city bus in my Cub Scout uniform, the driver kept me on the bus until we returned to where he picked me up, wrote on a paper transfer "Wrong Bus" then took my hand and crossed me over Brooklyn's Bay Parkway to the proper stop.
Two-Drink Minimum: Jazz guys are the best, so eager to share the knowledge!
Tumbling: I don't. (Never wanted to either.) Always nice to hear from the peanut gallery. Most would just shake their heads in disgust. Everyone knows that 1 in 5 New Yorkers is an accomplished tumbler!
At the Garage: I used to work at a movie theater in the 70's, you get good at remembering people's faces. Names? Not so much. Wish I was better at that.
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Funny entries!! I really liked the Local, Express!!
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I have ridden the F train for the 39 years I've lived in Brooklyn. When I lived off of the 7th Avenue stop, "this train will be going express" was as beautiful to hear as the sound of a string quartet. Now that I live near Church Avenue and the train goes express at Jay Street, to my ears, it's an inspiring symphony.
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This is always one of the best reads.
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The entry about the Local v Express train announcements triggered an old classic radio comedy skit. While I cannot remember the exact train stop, the skit line was something like: “ All passengers planning to get off at———-watch your step because the train does not stop at ———“.
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I love the conductor who allowed the boys to save their dollar... but worry about how they got home. (Yes, I'm a mother.)
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Marlene Heller,
The boys figured out how to get to Yankee Stadium, I'm sure they figured out how to get home. Also note that the two stops they rode on the train are only three miles apart; they may have planned to walk home.
25
@Marlene Heller Metro Card.
2
Curious to know what year this was. There has not been anything for sale for one dollar at Yankee Stadium for many, many, many years!
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Please explain to an obvious non-New Yorker how the subway can switch from local to express, and back again? Schedules and routes are advisory?
4
@HapinOregon I think you have to accept a certain level of randomness when on certain lines, F included. Likely a series of changes to normal routes and stops due to continuing work or a problem that pops up. I am guessing there were two operators operating with different MOs.
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As to the two voices on the F train, there weren’t 2 drivers. There was a driver and a station manager. I take that train very often. It’s actually a pretty common occurrence. Though this one went one round more than usual!
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It's quite common when there is construction or problems on one of the tracks. The local and express tracks run in parallel, right next to each other, and there are switches between them in-between some stations. So the train can physically switch from the express to the local track, or vice-versa.
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Local, Express -- that's good !
Especially since I'm getting ready for my Monday-morning A-train commute !
Happy Monday !
20
Regarding Tumbling:
Just doesn't get much better than this--long walk home up Broadway every evening with a best friend.
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Ah, two-drink minimum...I was allowed to take a greyhound from buffalo to the city in 1970, when I was all of 13, to visit my brother at Columbia. Can’t imagine what my parents were thinking (well, I can imagine, but don’t want to believe they were so happy to be rid of me for a week.)
Bro took me to a coffeehouse somewhere in the Village to hear Happy and Artie Traum, my first experience of that sort of music. It was great. And my two drinks were hot chocolate. No beer spillage occurred.
I was delighted that when we emerged from the coffeehouse around 2am that all the businesses around remained open. It was wonderfully nothing like buffalo in 1970.
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@Anglican: There was a place in the Village - I think it was on Eighth Street - where I could be served alcohol from age 14 on up. No problem, no proof required. A suburban Catholic high school girl’s giggly dream - as long as I was clear-headed by the time I got back home to Jersey on the bus (no problem, since I never had more than a glass or two of cheap, terrible wine).
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Local/Express
Charming, well-presented story! :-) Really enjoyed it. Great to start the day with a chuckle, thanks!
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@Judy Reiser
This delightful on-again-off-again scene makes me think of Jacques Tati's films.
26
Love, love, love Local, Express! thank you
the others too :)
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I have been at the Jay street stop when they decide to go express AFTER closing the doors and announcing local. It is really frusturating to end up having to backtrack. The MTA is a disaster in Brooklyn.
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@Schi Indeed! My stop in Queens is 75th Ave., F train stops all day, but the E only from about 19:30-06:00, as is a local stop. There are times when on the E, after announcing the next local stop and closes the doors that they change it to express, annoys the heck out of me. The MTA sure knows how to test one’s patience, sheesh!
5
God Bless the Conductor who saved those boys their dollar.
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@L.Tallchief - wasn't it that the ride had to have cost more than a dollar for the two of them, and his only choice "under the rules" was to put them off the train because they couldn't pay? If they had enough for the fare, it seemed that he would have taken it.
2
Dear Allen,
I agree with you: “This week’s Diary scores a ten.”
In addition, Agnes Lee’s illustrations also score a ten. I love the way that she captures the essence of each story with her black and white lines in pencil and charcoal. I think I’ll sit here for a while in my comfortable chair and stare at her drawings while I ignore the rest of the news.
As you often say: Stay well.
Dean
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@Dean -and Allen- yes I concur- good diary week- I especially like the way the people are leaning in Agnes Lee's Local Express illustration!
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Dear Dean and Jeanne,
I agree with you both in admiring Agnes Lee’s genius in conveying so much through so very few deftly rendered spare lines, capturing the essence of each Diary entry. I especially loved the way in which the five little figures during the stages of a cartwheel convey the movement of Tom Ickert joyfully tumbling on his stroll up Broadway as he headed home with his best friend.
Be well and enjoy a lovely week.
Allen
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@Dean - Thank you for mentioning the illustrations. I love them but rarely take the time to really look at
them. I think I will drink my coffee and enjoy these little gems!
28
All five Diary entries this week are sheer delight and quintessentially New York City stories.
I think native New Yorkers would be, like residents of other great world cities such as Paris, Rome, and Vienna, less likely to look askance at walking for the sheer joy of it than denizens of communities where automobiles are or must of necessity be used to get places. Doing a cartwheel and getting a ten from an appreciative judge—pure joy!
This appreciative reader thanks all five authors for a Metropolitan Diary treasure trove of delightful stories. This week’s Diary scores a ten.
Allen
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Local, Express is a very interesting story to read but very confusing and irritating for passengers, who get wrong message on account of lack of coordination between the people, who make such announcements. However it’s nice to know that the commuters had a hearty laugh.
This story reminds me of one such incident on Indian Railway platform few decades back. Passengers got into a particular train but the announcer said that this train wouldn’t leave and that the passengers in fact have to go to some other platform at a far off distance. Imagine the frustration and tiresomeness of the passengers in getting off and then climbing up and then climbing down a number of stairs to go to another platform. There was no provision of escalators at that time in that particular Railway station.
Short Bronx ride is interesting too. It was nice of the conductor to let go children for free. The writer didn’t mention when did it happen mainly because passengers simply can’t enter train without having a ticket. When we were there during 2008 - 2012, we never encountered any conductor in metro trains except in long distance trains or Amtrak. This incident must have happened at least two decades back.
Two - Drink Minimum story is interesting in the sense the boy of 12 years was unnecessarily misunderstood by the taxi driver on account of beer spilling on boy’s shirt by a waitress.
It clearly means that we simply shouldn’t jump and arrive at some conclusion by what we see.
18
@Sivaram Pochiraju - You don't have to present a ticket to get on the Metro North train to Yankee Stadium. Perhaps you are thinking of the subway? I'll let you know what happens later today when I take my regular weekly train back down to Grand Central and the conductor comes down the aisle and punches my 10 trip ticket!
25
@Jeanne DePasquale Perez : Thank you very much for the valuable information. You are very much right. The word Metro meant subway to me. I am not aware about Metro North train.
23
Two Drink Minimum reminds me of a line in a Steinbeck novel- sorry I can't remember which- where a man and a boy are in a bar and the man orders a "sweetie milk" for the boy-
29
When did anything at yankee stadium cost a dollar. Must have been a L-O-N-G time ago.
Nonetheless nice!
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Lee,
Except the Metro-North "Yankees - 153rd Street" station is only ten years old...
7
@Lee
I didn't understand the conductor was quoting a price, but rather that he was giving over the dollar towards the cost of their Yankee Stadium refreshments. Just being the good guy, not stating any facts.
2