You know Shelly gave all he had for his constituents. His soul, his heart, he was a giant among lesser mortals. He fought for the rights of landowners, graft evaders and many more who cant be named because of litigation. And now, abandoned by his friends he hovers at the bialy store on Essex a broken man. This once great giant demoted to eating dry bialys with a smear. How the great fall!
This just in. There will be a panel discussion at the New School Auditorium November 29th at 7:30. Panelists will be Shelly Silver, Rudy Guiliani and Mitch McConnell. Topic: Ethics in Government.
I have heard so many instances where people have overheard Shelly Silver that I'm beginning to suspect something is going on. Is he running for President? I sure hope so. What a dear, dear man. All the work he did for the Lower East Side and he gets no respect. I don't know why. Such a sweet man.
Due to technical difficulties, comments are unavailable. Some comments will be available but we won’t know which ones until later.We’re working to fix the issue as soon as possible.
If you have a critical piece of feedback for us, you can always reach the newsroom via the Reader Center. Alternatively you can sho...
Thank you for reading, and sorry for the trouble!
I had had a rough day at work. When it was over, I didn’t feel like going home to my lonely studio apartment. I decided to have a shake k wake key. I drifted into took off my jacket and tie as I sat down, laying them over the seat next to me.
It was that time of year when the Hydrangeas secreted the floral sour fragrance of a calf uddering. Seamus took up the slack and came around and tied me to the post. to be continued...
I dithered once in Copenhagen. I thitherd off to Denmark for a time. Crossing finally to Finland I had a session with a head shrink in Helsinki.
“You just threw a banana peel into my living room,” I said.
"So".
"You know what."
"Is that a question?"
"How could it be. It didn't have question mark."
At a writers anonymous one evening, I began to speak with the woman next to me. I learned that she, like me, was a native New Yorker. I said, "Really? She gave me the weirdest look like I was typing some kind of kinky romance novel where the characters live in Malibu and have an inner courtyard like Melrose Place.
“Where in New York do you live?” I asked.
“Manhattan,” she said. “The Upper West Side.”
I saw that he was maybe 6-foot-3. He had that air about him like he was going to march right over to me and ask me where I took vacations when I was younger and much more frail than I am now but I still have my looks. I could see the sweat glistening on his chest ripe with the seasonal hydrangeas giving that intrepid tremble of our heartbeats.
1
It was a hot, humid evening, and I took off my jacket and tie as I sat down, laying them over the seat next to me. I never wear men's clothes but this time I made an exception.
The movie was dreadful. I walked out after 20 minutes. When I got home, I didn’t have my tie. I realized that I must have left it at the theater. I went back and met Robin.
I also was parked on Broadway at 87 St. Someone walked by and said "Is this your car?" I said, "Who's asking?" He said, "None of your business?" I said, "It is my business". He said, "You did the punctuation wrong". The period is suppose to be inside the comma."
23
I despise NYC, and I have been to many of its Burroughs. It is an over rated city sold by Hollywood and Broadway. Only ignorant tourists who love loudness and too much glitter go to Broadway now. NYC is over rated.
4
Akin to the Yogi Berraism: nobody goes to that restaurant anymore, it's too crowded.
26
I grew up in Queens.
Know the city very well.
We are glad to never see you again!
24
@ExhaustedFightingForJusticeEveryDay
Then why do you read Metropolitan Diary for Pete's sake?
46
I also experienced the warmth of the Danes. They were two exchange students and I was 16. You do the math.
6
'I live in Queens...,' - Several years ago, achieving my bucket list visit to the Carlyle's Bemelmans Bar, I found myself chatting with a 30-40ish Russian native who lived in the vicinity and, judging by the bartender's greeting, was clearly a regular. I'm a New York aficianado who has often visited from my home in the Midwest. Imagine my surprise as I mentioned this or that favorite thing or place in Manhattan and was met w a nearly blank stare from my bar acquaintance. Turned out she admitted with almost no shame - she almost never ventured from the few blocks surrounding her UES residence. What a waste!
3
They should include some humorous stories in this column.
4
Thinking about Aaron Kaplowitz’s Diary entry about trying to find relief from the heat of the subways brought to mind one particular summer in the late 1950s. At that time I was living in Inwood and in the summers would take the A train down to 34h Street every day for work. The trains did not yet have air conditioning but had fans attached to polls in the cars to stir the air a bit.
What I remembered was that one summer there was a fad item that became popular and I had one of them. It was a small hand-held fan that took two D batteries and looked a bit like a flashlight. The fan’s plastic blades were quite small and covered by a little plastic frame but when you turned it on and held it to your face you got a small soothing breeze.
I had not thought of these little things in years; the one I had was light blue. Thanks for reviving that memory Aaron.
Be well all Diary readers and commenters, and Els, I hope your eye is causing you less discomfort and healing up nicely.
Allen
8
@Allen
Dear Allen,
Your nostalgic memories of riding the subway from uppermost Manhattan (Inwood) south to midtown in the 1950s sparked some memories from my childhood in the 1950s as well.
Back then, the various trains were divided into 3 distinct "lines"--the IRT (the original elevated train in nyc), the BMT, and the IND--and then given route names for the neighborhoods/areas covered or destinations. I lived in Brooklyn, covered by the BMT or Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit line, which had 3 branches--the Brighton line (ours and our stop was Church Avenue in Flatbush, a block from the old Dutch Reformed Church), the Sea Beach, and the West End. All ran from Manhattan through to the Ocean either at Brighton Beach or further along Neptune Avenue directly into Coney Island near the giant ferris wheel, on which, in the mid-1940s my father, suspended high in the air, proposed to my mother.
Just as you remember the large ceiling fans of the subway cars, I recall the beautifully woven, shiny wicker double seats of those cars; no one would ever have thought of vandalizing them. But times have indeed changed.
Brooklyn, btw, for those who do not know, was a *separate city* from NYC; the two merged in 1998. And we all had a holiday from school in Spring for "Brooklyn Day" to attend the Brooklyn Day parade!!
Thank you for the kinds words re my eye, Allen. Gradually, vision in that eye is returning, although my son did say I looked as if I'd gone 5 rounds with Mike Tyson.
Elissa
7
@Allen I tucked one of those fans into my wedding bouquet, the hottest day of that summer, and no air conditioning in a prairie barn.
7
@els
Sorry to All. Of course the two wonderful cities of New York and Brooklyn merged in *1898* not 1998 very shortly after being connected by Mr. Roebling's famed Bridge. Seth Low, who was mayor of Brooklyn, soon presided as mayor of the new, larger New York City, and the two additional bridges linking Brooklyn to Manhattan soon followed.
Elissa
7
As a young woman, I remember my boss telling me that Manhattanites were the most provincial people on the planet. They never leave a tiny, little island and have zero knowledge about anything that is happening off of it. His favorite example, back then, was Woody Allen.
9
@Working mom Ironically, The Woody Allen you talk about, was born and grew up in Brooklyn! Not the gentrified and yuppified part, but’s the vast and historically talented southern part! Check him out on You Tube! He’ll take you on a tour of his Midwood, Brooklyn.
3
People fight for the prestige of being called a New Yorker or Manhattanite. I am more impressed by the last book you read, wherever you live.
9
I've lived in New York since 1985, and have lived in Manhattan, Brooklyn (currently) and the Bronx. I used to move around a lot, and have lived in a lot of neighborhoods. I've kayaked in Queens with the Long Island City Community Boathouse (including around the island of Manhattan at night, twice), and I used to work at Montefiore Hospital. I had a good friend whose parents lived in Staten Island, so I visited the borough (or boro, not "Burroughs," that person seems to be talking about William S...) a lot. I have friends who live all over the five wonderful boroughs that make up the city and I actually visit them! A friend of mine just bought a lovely house in Queens, way out in Queens. Every place is a little different, some depressing, some too fancy for their own good. NYC is a miracle. It gets on my nerves sometimes, but, I love it. Don't hesitate to visit the boroughs, there's a lot of great things going on in them.
20
I despise NYC, and I have been to many of its Burroughs. It is an over rated city sold by Hollywood and Broadway. NYC is over rated.
@ExhaustedFightingForJusticeEveryDay Do you like it or not? Can't figure it out.
9
It may be okay not to know about other boroughs but considering Long Island to be Manhattan is a bit too much. By the way there is a Manhattan in Kansas, which is called Little Apple whereas Manhattan in New York City is called Big Apple.
It’s bad that a tie couldn’t be recovered from a movie theatre. However this story has made me to remember our visit to a movie theatre in Ann Arbor, MI few months back. There were seven people in all in the entire theatre. Out of which five were our family members. It felt as if our family owned theatre. I never experienced in my entire life of 70 years.
Banana Peel is all about individual social responsibility. It’s nice of the writer to ask the car occupants to pick up the thrown banana peel. It’s also nice that one of the occupants to correct the wrong deed once told.
Long Deli Line is a very interesting story about how people feel while standing in a long line, which moves at a snail pace. I admire the sense of humour of the person standing behind a lady, who talked about being dead in line umpteen number of times.
Subway Summer reflects how happy commuters can be during summer when they find light breeze. I have literally experienced it especially in suffocating Mumbai local trains a number of times.
16
@Sivaram Pochiraju Your summary made me smile and brought to mind the 85 year lady who wrote that rave review of Olive Garden "It's the largest and most beautiful restaurant in town" and instantly became an internet sensation :)
11
@Re : Thanks for your appreciation. It’s my pleasure to contribute in a small way.
5
@Sivaram Pochiraju My husband just told me he'd like to meet you one day.
4
We should all start to confront fare jumpers - not just litterbugs.
6
These are great - not as sweet as previous Metropolitan Diaries. This is the real New York.
Brava, Arlene, for making that guy pick up the banana peel!
23
@RJ I also think the story may not have been so pleasant if the complainant was a guy!
2
@RJ
It reminded me of a friend - in a suburban town - a petite, and then quite young, woman, who confronted a man in a car for throwing litter into the parking lot at a grocery. In the store, as she was shopping - suddenly the same man - also a big guy - walked up to her -- and said: " "i'm so sorry."
4
People can be so condescending towards Queens or Queens residents. Whenever I mention the borough and ask people if they've been, the most ignorant will say things like "it's so far" or "what's there to do there?" or just flat out "I've never been to Queens."
I follow up with "have you ever flown in or out of JFK or LaGuardia?" which usually prompts a yes.
"Well, you've been to Queens," I say.
33
@James y
Until 1984, all of New York City had been served by area code 212 for 37 years. Then the New York Public Service Commission voted to create a new area code to serve Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island (some additional changes happened after that). Being a Brooklyn resident at the time, I remember how upset people outside Manhattan borough were to lose the prestigious 212 area code.
15
@James I live in Queens and I'm condescending towards Queens.
13
We are from Philadelphia (another wonderful place often unfairly derided) and were invited to a Manhattan wedding. We chose to stay in a hotel in Long Island City. It was wonderful! Quieter, saner, cheaper ... with a view of the skyline!
19
To Lifelong New Yorker. Love your line about living in a sensory deprivation tank if residing outside New York.
I lived in Manhattan during the mid-1970s (East 48th between First and Second for those snobs who are wondering). During that time there was an article in the NYTimes wherein a New Yorker was asked what it was like traveling outside the city. I’ve never forgotten his reply: “Out there it’s all white bread and vanilla ice cream.” How true it is. Since the 70s I’ve lived in San Francisco, Washington D.C, Cambridge, Moscow—sometimes called the Big Potato— and places in between. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere, has filled my sensory needs like New York. I treasure the gift of coming of age in such an incredible city.
37
@Nancy I've so far had the good fortune to visit various places on each of our continents with the exception of Antarctica and Australia. In each place I've found reason to celebrate the people, the culture and many other things. And still each time I drive across a bridge or through a tunnel or land in one of the airports back into New York City, there is nothing akin to that lovely feeling of coming home.
5
Please stop using the term “outer boroughs.” The four other boroughs that make up the City of New York were never referred to as “outer boroughs” until the not so recent past. “Outer” connotes lesser and many, many born and bred native New Yorkers live in the other boroughs. Many famous musicians, comedians, writers, artists, hardworking craftspeople, civil servants and more come from the other boroughs.
54
First and foremost regarding knowing the other boroughs. You mention that you call Queens your home and refer to yourself as a "native New Yorker".
Were you born and raised in any of the five boroughs?
If not, you are not a 'New Yorker' and definitely not a "native New Yorker".
These are the universally acknowledged requirements for using the aforementioned terms.
If you DO fit the requirements the point is moot.
5
I immigrated to NYC at 5, and have lived here ever since. I consider myself a Native New Yorker - because to me, being an immigrant who came to NYC is as native as it gets.
47
@Raven Who made you the gatekeeper?
52
@Raven Completely true!
5
@Zaldid Sorn - I find that truly remarkable I’m this day and age. Especially the part about the mongoose
3
"...glacially slow line." I just wrote it on the board for my students to read.
22
@TC And soon you'll have to explain to them what a glacier was!
2
Another query from a non-New Yorker:
Other than being the home of Trump, what is so bad about the Queens?
16
@HapinOregon - Nothing is bad about any of the boroughs! Manhattan was traditionally the richest- except for some neighborhoods and had the main cultural and business and finance opportunities. The other boroughs were more blue collar. Everything has changed since I was growing up in Brooklyn. Now some of Brooklyn is prohibitively expensive and hip to live in and some neighborhoods in Manhattan that were coveted have become less desirable. Queens has the most diversity and some of the best food in NYC. All the boroughs have great museums and parks from the Chinese Scholars Gardens on Staten Island- the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx- MOMA PS1 in Queens and the great Brooklyn Museum just to mention a few.
58
Nada. It’s the most ethnically and linguistically diverse borough. Every borough is unique and gave something to the world, be it the birthplace of hip hop with the Bronx...or the World Fair in Queens...they’ve all got their claim to fame (and accents too).
22
@HapinOregon
not considered quite as "rich" as Manhattan.
And, it's not the Queens. Just Queens.
Just as just Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, but "the" Bronx. :)
12
I love these short entries. I find them so soothing at the start of my day. Some of them fitting with my own curated vision of what New York and its inhabitants are like: sharp, high spirited and stylish. Happy Autumn, New York!
39
Over this past summer my husband and I got a Jeep stranded in the mud right at the top of a mountain in southern Colorado. After ditching the Jeep and hiking out, we eventually reached cell phone range and were picked up by a mountain rescue tow truck driver, who turned out to be a Wall Street expat. Naturally, he asked where we lived in New York, and we excitedly relayed that we had recently left Brooklyn to buy a home in Jackson Heights. "Oh," he said, looking askance. "I used to park my car in Queens."
53
Back in the early 80’s, I lived in Astoria Queens & worked & spent a lot of time in Manhattan. If someone asked me where I lived, I would say The Upper East East Side or overseas. I was too embarrassed to say I lived in Queens. I eventually moved to Manhattan & am still here.
9
@Philip Brunquel Thank you, thank you, thank you for a much needed laugh at work this afternoon on what has been quite a torrid Monday!!
14
Thank you Arlene Diesenhouse!
32
We walked up to the return counter at a department store being next in line. We took a ticket from their number dispenser anyway just in case. Another couple came in clearly in a hurry, walked right past us and up to the counter. The clerk said nothing and continued helping the person already at the counter. More people came in confused about where the line started. I held up my ticket and nodded toward the dispenser. When the clerk called our number the couple turned around and saw the line of ticket holding people at half a dozen.
I couldn't help the little smirk on my face as we waked up to the counter but the look on their faces was priceless.
72
@mlb4ever
Hey, they were from out of town!
4
Deli line:
Years ago I had a favorite deli at the corner of Murray and Church Street. The reason why: They had no patience with dawdlers, people who didn't know what they wanted and wanted a long discussion or would be price negotiators. They had lines out the door in the morning and at lunch and if you fell into the previously mentioned categories, the owner would bypass them with a we can't afford you, next in line. The flip side of the coin, he was very patient with handicapped or elderly people, he just had no tolerance for anyone who was just simply high maintenance and cost him sales. Patrons who were rushing back to work appreciated it as well, as most of the people he bypassed the soup Nazi in Seinfeld would have been banned for life.
55
"Nope, haven't got it." Priceless.
66
I would probably get along well with Mr. Brunquel's friend.
5
All roads lead to Rome and in today’s toxic environment all stories lead back to DJT. Rising distain for the lovely borough of Queens is directly linked to this louche, vulgarian, gaslighter who wanted to make it big in Manhattan. In my day, late 50s, early 60s, moving to Queens was considered a step up to a greener, more suburban environment. Trees, front lawns, no looming concrete canyons. Don’t fret Queens, this odious man will be soon relegated to the dustbin of history and your reputation will shine again.
128
Dear Arlene Diesenhouse:
You have given me a new line with your Diary entry "Banana Peel." From now on, whenever I do something stupid, I can just say, "It was my brother from another mother."
Not only that! It rhymes!
Dean
19
@Dean
It is a great line. It's from a 1970s album by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg. They weren't related but wished they were brothers, hence the line, which was also the title of the album.
7
@Kim
The name of the album is
Twin Sons of Different Mothers (1978)
6
Thank you, Kim. That’s a new one for me. I’ll check on YouTube for a start. I always liked Dan Fogelberg’s music.
6
Thank you for confronting the litterbug Miss Diesenhouse.
29
@Monica Kelly I was walking in Leith,Scotland a tough part of Edinburgh. Two girls about 14, goth makeup and heavily pierced threw their McDonald’s trash on the sidewalk in front of us. Before I could think I blurted out “you live in the most beautiful city in the world and you’re trashing it” “pick that up”! I got some dark scowls but by gosh they turned and did it!
47
@Monica Kelly I was walking in Leith , Scotland a tough part of Edinburgh. Two girls about 14, goth makeup, heavily pierced suddenly threw their McDonald’s trash on the sidewalk. Before I could think I blurted out”you live in the most beautiful city in the world and you’re trashing it” “pick that up” I got dark scowls but by golly they turned and did it
3
It’s interesting to consider the rhetorical function of your inclusion of the detail that these were “heavily pierced goth” girls.
1
Confronting a litterer in NYC is like saying you might want to get stabbed today.
60
@raynernycz I lived on the North Shore of Staten Island for over 20 years. The sound of rap music penetrated the closed windows of our apartment, so I went downstairs, found a young man sitting in his car with music blaring. I asked him to please turn the music down a bit, which he did, with an accompanying, "Oh, yeah." On the other hand, in the cozy university town of Pullman, WA, the college kids could be threatening if one asked them to hold it down. People vary. Why live in fear of the reaction to a reasonable request?
6
I had a stuck-up acquaintance when I lived in the Upper East Side. I didn't realize just how stuck-up she was until I told her I was moving from my 5th floor walk-up apartment to Queens. When I invited her to visit me in my new apartment in an elevator building with balcony and view, she responded "I don't go to Queens." Her loss.
95
I had a not stuck up friend in my hood. Lived on 112 street and Bway. Never went further than 96th to the south and 135th to the north.
27
@Lifelong New Yorker Way back when, we lived on the UWS. To put it kindly, the area had a decidedly sketchy reputation.
When we told friends where we lived, rather than coming to our place (a lovely pre-war on a tree-lined street, a half-block from Central Park), the near universal reaction was, 'You live where? Can we meet someplace?'
I would kill for that apartment today.
13
@Huronito
That's so perfect because I know people who live in SoHo and the Village who refuse to go "above 14th St."
5
It is outrageous that NYC subway stations are not air-conditioned in our climate. If we want to encourage mass transit use the goal should be to provide passengers with an experience that is somewhat less miserable than is currently the case.
19
@Joel I like the heat. I take a water spritzer in the heat waves and go to Grand Central subway station. What a treat!
5
@Joel Oh, please, another outrage. The subway stations were made hotter as a result of the air conditioning of the subway cars. Parts of the NYC subway system are 115 years old (this weekend!) You can't have everything all at once. Improved accessibility and necessary repairs come first.
36
@Joel Its a conundrum because if we air condition the stations, we heat the planet. So, we have to put up with it instead of doing more damage.
30
I live with my family in the Bronx. We travel frequently and when someone asks where we are from, we used to say “New York City. “ But we got over it and for decades now all of us say “We’re from the Bronx. “
You can’t imagine how many respond “I grew up in the Bronx!” (even in an elevator in Paris). How many friends we’ve made! Even in Japan! We were surrounded by Japanese fans of Yankee baseball player Hideki Matsui.
I could write a dozen anecdotes!
93
@Zejee
Always say am a Bronx girl, born and raised. Well raised I may add, The Bronx was then and is now a striver's borough. I grew up on Rhinelander Ave. Made lifelong friends, My apartment building was down the block from Jacobi Hospital before the police station was built on the grounds. We had Pelham Parkway, and a huge Park of grounds that became the police precinct,where we brought our sleds after a winter snow. Einstein had a school for nurses and it had an indoor pool we swam at. Our building down the block had a pool which is where I learned to swim and spent many wonderful summers. We would go up to Arthur Ave. to Ann and Tonys for real Italian food at the end of some summer days. We had PS108 and Columbus HS. My grandparents lived near the HS so I visited them often after school for comfort of family and food. My mom and dad both worked. Grandparents helped raise us.. We had the beach of the Riviera at Orchard Beach. Public buses took us there. We had City Island and Throggs neck and miles of green land. The upbringing was to be envied. Yes, there was changing demographics in much of the Bronx but it was always for the better. Morris Park, the Zoo, The Botanical Gardens,a borough of immigrants who make a better for way for their kids with education and hard work. Good those from Manhattan remain clueless. We can visit Manhattan, they do not visit the outer boroughs and so miss out. As you said Zejee, I meet so many now from the Bronx. Salt of the earth people.
60
@Zejee I'm from Australia and one of my closest friends from NYC grew up in the Bronx. If he's an example, I love people from the Bronx!!
35
@This just in ...."salt of the earth"....sounds like you are too! Thanks for the read!!
14
First, kudos to Agnes Lee for her wonderful illustrations that always manage to capture the people, place, and incident being described so well that we actually feel we are right there in the scene. But especially this week, as I slowly recover my vision using 7 (!!!) different eye-drop medications, 5 of these 3x daily, I truly appreciate Ms. Lee's "I Live in Queens," "Rough Day," and "Long Deli Line" drawings especially because they are so large!!
Wait--this couldn't be nyc; not even City Island (technically part of the Bronx) has those small, row apt buildings was my second thought as I read "I live in Queens." My first reaction was "Well, the boat feels just a bit too large, but this really must be either Amsterdam or Stockholm."
So, with a few whimsical lines, Ms. Lee instantly placed me in the right geographical area on the right continent even though the words of the story itself are still somewhat blurry.
My similar synagogue experience in Northern Europe occurred when a gentleman serving as an usher who appeared to be Persian handed me a prayer book and I replied "Merci, merci," thank you in Farci as well as French but pronounced just slightly differently.
"Great Neck or Los Angeles?" (the two large Persian communities in the US) he asked. Within seconds we'd established that his maternal aunt is my next door neighbor and I know dozens of his relatives quite well.
We may no longer use "letters of introduction" when we travel, but saying nyc is enough.
Elissa
63
Dear Elissa,
Good luck with your eye drops. I remember your saying in a comment a while ago that you were going to need to take some eye drops at some point and that you had a hard time administering them to yourself. You said (I think) that your husband had to give you your eye drops.
Did you have cataract surgery? I had cataract surgery about 10 years ago, and I remember giving myself multiple eye drops before and after the surgery. But (here’s the good news) my cataract surgery changed my life! I could once again see clearly! And I still have 20-20 vision!
So, for whatever is going on with your eyes, Elissa, I’m wishing you well!
Best,
Dean
34
@Dean
Dear Dean,
Thank you so much for your encouragement and good wishes >). I'll report back, hopefully with news of progress by next week. Now, I'm off to the doctor's--wearing a hooded sweatshirt and absolutely huge, dramatic-looking dark glasses that make me look like an aging tv personality leaving a rehab center and trying to elude papparazzi....
All, please forgive my error in misspelling the name of the Persian language in my previous message. Of course it is "Farsi," not farci, the French culinary term for "stuffed."
Best, Elissa
24
@els,
Remember that New Yorkers take pride in pretending not to see anybody who looks different. You could probably walk down Second Avenue with a rotary phone in hand, having a discourse with an 'imaginary' listener on the line and only a tourist would take your photo.
Even though nearly everyone I know past sixty has had a successful 'eye procedure', it is unsettling, and treat yourself to your favorite beverage on your comfortable return. Chime in with an update, if and when you can, and have settled in.
When it comes to being a snot about one's address, my parent used to revisit a social news anecdote where she and her first spouse divorced. It was an orchestrated one, and when her father-in-law read the paper off-the-press at early dawn, summoning his son for an explanation, he roared "What were you doing on THE WEST SIDE!".
Once I saw a little place on 'Hooker' Avenue outside New York City, named after a forgotten general, but there would have been a long Trans-Atlantic correspondence between the Red Queen in Paris and her offspring with futile explanations from the latter.
Chipper up, and carry a parapluie for we are in for a gray week, according to the weather forecasters.
Joining you in thanking Agnes Lee for her engaging illustrations, and The Metropolitan Diary with its contributors, for keeping our spirits lively and animated.
11
Regarding "I Live in Queens" -
Someone I knew while in school was a reviewer on the Cape but just about everything she reviewed and all the nightlife for her and her husband was a 90-minute ride away, in Boston and at times Cambridge. They found the Cape very pleasant, but put it as "We reside in Cape Cod, but we LIVE in Boston."
20
The story "Rough Day" about the tie in the movie theater made me wonder: Was it that the person on the phone was looking at the tie and wanted it, which is not such a pleasant New York story.
Or perhaps was it that it had been found at the end of the movie (Mr. Otis had left pretty early in the movie) - and, as I've seen happen, the person cleaning up asks loudly if anyone lost it. And someone else decided to claim it lying that it was theirs?
If that's what happened, I'd like to imagine that the liar who said it was theirs was someone who didn't live in New York. :)
9
I think you missed a critical New York experience. When I lived there, I remember several times where someone would duck into the Marlin Bar and ask whether “so and so” had been in. A customer, or the bartender, would then respond “you mean the ‘stick in the mud’ (my words)”.... and go on to describe him perfectly. When the person would say “yes!”, the response was, “never seen him.”
26
@Freddie Possibly it summarizes a time when a red tie was part of the office uniform.
3
We visit NYC frequently, but until 2013 we had never visited any of the boroughs other than Manhattan. In 2013, we visited the Bronx (saw Bronx Zoo, ate on Arthur Ave.). In later years, we have visited Brooklyn (Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Museum) and Queens (Corona Park, Flushing). Queens is one of the culinary centers of NYC. Many places not to be missed outside of Manhattan. Feel sorry for visitors who never venture outside of Midtown.
56
At the National Exam in France in 1969, some of the interrogating teachers detested the students for being malcontents and the cause of nearly toppling The Government.
We were rushed in a long solemn line, through our limited knowledge of geography test, with a ten-minute time-frame to 'tell all'. Now. I may have looked Danish to the eye of the beholder, but labeled no. 159439, the examiner shouted 'New York, Mademoiselle!', where I was born.
Taking off on a tearing gallop, I focused on 'The Melting-Pot', the skyscrapers, babbling away, until the teacher could stand it no more, and we never got to The Boroughs of The City, which I had vaguely heard of.
Times change, and on returning to New York City a few years later, I stayed in Parkchester in The Bronx with 'Gamma', an elderly retired teacher.
With a strong dislike for commuting, I relocated to Manhattan where a job awaited, and in 1980, went to work for a man known as 'Mr. Fixit' for having saved New York City from bankruptcy.
All roads in life were leading to The City that never Sleeps, and in celebrating the forthcoming nuptials of my brother at an expensive restaurant in town, his bride-to-be took me to task for not having heard of 'The Bridge and Tunnel People'?
Only one friend resides in Manhattan today, with no pride, and the rest are happy in their Boroughs, while I continue to get pretty well lost, no matter where I go.
30
As the son and grandson of native-born New Yorkers (I was born on Staten Island) it is amusing to encounter arrivistes with probably short-term Manhattan addresses who attempt to pull rank over those of us blessed to have been born here. Enough said.
70
@Michael J. Fressola As someone who has lived here since 1969 and had two husbands who were born here I have to say that the natives are generally all too self centered about the place. They cannot imagine living anywhere else. Not that I would want to but I at least know that it is possible.
For the record I have lived on the West Side, in Washington Heights, on the Upper East Side, in lower Westchester, and in Queens. Grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and went to school for a while in Boston, another liveable place.
18
@Zaldid Sorn
You are 117 years old? WOW!
10
@Zaldid Sorn This is plausible except for the detail about the 12 husbands.
15