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What’s in a Name
by liz dolan 05/06/2013Neighborhood: Bronx, Midtown
Sitting in the second row of the balcony at the New York City Center ballet, I, sixteen, entranced by the melodies of Swan Lake, watched a tall, muscular sun-god pirouetting and jeteing on the stage. As he soared, I gasped at the height of his jumps and his sure-footed landings. But I had not come [...]
Scaffolding
by Thomas Beller 04/18/2013Neighborhood: Featured, Financial District
Once upon a time, when I was a teenager working as a bike messenger, I would stop midway across Central Park, somewhere along the North side of the Great Lawn, and take a break to regard the skyline along the park's southern edge. I was always hoping to see signs of new construction. This would [...]
Respect for the Dead
by Claudette Bakhtiar 04/08/2013Neighborhood: Upper West Side
I was on the 2 Express uptown on my way home after work. It was about 6:30 pm. We straphangers who were standing were packed in like sardines. As the train pulled into the 79th Street station, there was a sound, a whooshing of air, a release. It felt as though the power had been [...]
That’s My Daughter In The Water
by Trevor Laurence Jockims 03/27/2013Neighborhood: Featured, Upper East Side
Getting your two year old daughter into a bathing suit in a men’s changing room can be a bit like stuffing an eel into a pillowcase. For some reason I thought the smart move would be to undress myself first, get my trunks on, my flip-flops, grab my towel, then shed Hana down to her [...]
Found in Transit
by Joelle Berger 02/09/2013Neighborhood: All Over, Grand Central Station, Union Square
A woman once offered me her seat on a rush hour 3 train. New Yorkers only donate seats to the elderly, the injured, and the pregnant, so it was obvious what she thought. “Not pregnant – just fat,” I told her, matter-of-factly, compelled to set precedent before this woman’s so-called generosity spawned an outbreak of [...]
At Home on the Church Steps
by Mindy Lewis 02/08/2013Neighborhood: Upper West Side
On a blustery December evening on my way to a friend’s dinner party, I stopped in front of a jumbo cardboard box on the steps of the church around the corner. “Jim?” I called out. A moment later a hand emerged and gave a little wave, followed by a head with tousled, graying hair. “Hi,” [...]
A Comparative Analysis of the Heroic Exploits of Antarctic Explorer Ernest Shackleton and Downtown Resident Brent Shearer During The Five-Night “Sandy” Blackout
by Brent Shearer 02/07/2013Neighborhood: Lower East Side, Tribeca
October 1915 - Shackleton's ship the Endurance crushed by ice after drifting for nine months. October 28, 2012 - 7:30 pm: Shearer hikes two blocks from residence at 90 Hudson St., #6B, to Hudson River with stated goal of checking out storm surge and keeping feet dry. Forced to wade through three feet of water [...]
Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood Reading Series Returns!!!
by Connor Gaudet 02/03/2013Neighborhood: Featured, Lower East Side, Manhattan, News
Thanks to the valiant efforts of Neighborhood contributor, Rob Williams, Mr. Beller's Neighborhood Reading Series is back in the Lower East Side! The monthly reading series will premiere this month at 7 PM, Thursday, February 21 at Dixon Place - 161 Chrystie St (between Rivington and Delancey), and be on the third Thursday of every [...]
Chowdah
by peter nolan smith 01/17/2013Neighborhood: Grand Central Station, Midtown
Last week my boss Manny hated me. The business was slow on 47th street. I had been hired part-time to help my replacement H-Love, but neither of us had made a sale between Xmas and the New Year. “I feel like I’m running a charity ward. The two of you are about as useful as [...]
A Dark and Stormy Night
by Christina Maile 01/07/2013Neighborhood: Uncategorized, West Village
Three days after a storm that could have easily been called Gidget or Bob in keeping with the unintended frivolity of its real name – Sandy, two people are sitting on a bench in a dark chaotic lobby of an artists’ residence on the west side of Manhattan. One, a sculptor, is waiting for her [...]
Hurricane Kingdom
by Marie A. Sabatino 01/07/2013Neighborhood: Featured, Lower East Side
It was like the prom. Only it wasn’t the prom. It was Hurricane Sandy. All the anxious preparation, the heart slightly aflutter, the pure angst and nervous excitement all at once. What to buy in advance, who to spend the night with, hell, even what to wear. It was Monday afternoon on the Lower East [...]
SMASHING KNIVES
by peter nolan smith 12/28/2012Neighborhood: Brooklyn, Midtown
In the Greater Depression the employment opportunities for a man my age were limited in New York. No company wanted to pay my worth, for a younger man will do the job for a third the wage and his knowledge of labor resistance is zero. However my absolute willingness to work has overcome most obstacles [...]
