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Sotto Voce
by Liane Kupferberg Carter 09/14/2009Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
“If you could be anything in the world and talent and money weren’t an issue, would you still be doing what you do, or something else?” My husband posed this question in an attempt to liven up a rather staid Upper East Side party one night. The gathered Wall Street wizards, lawyers and M.B.A. types thought [...]
Opera for the Poor, Cheap and Masochistic
by Ken Paprocki 08/16/2009Neighborhood: Upper West Side
I’m Number 28 in line for rush tickets at the Metropolitan Opera. Today there was a ripple in the curvature of the space-time continuum: they moved the rush ticket waiting line upstairs. Ongoing construction forced everybody out of the usual spot. This means that instead of waiting in the hyperborean dungeon beneath the main level for [...]
Gettin’ Racial on Little Rodeo Drive (uh, Bleecker Street)
by Cynthia Kraman 11/02/2008Neighborhood: West Village
If you have a gloriously Afro’d, insanely talented, sleek sapling of a former student who has given herself a single syllable moniker and released her first hip-hop CD, you want to walk her around your neighborhood like a princess. You want a red carpet to roll out in front of her as she shyly hunts [...]
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH? NO, NO, NO!
by Candy Schulman 10/07/2008Neighborhood: West Village
I met John Lennon in Washington Square Park. My friend Susan and I were returning home to the Village from our jobs as drug abuse counselors in the roughest schools in Brooklyn…when we spotted him. It was 1973, and his hat gave him away: a black Beatles’ cap that had become their trademark, a newsboy [...]
My First (And Only) Paid Appearance as a Violin Soloist
by Philip Wesler 08/25/2008Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
Most violin students must diligently practice on their instruments many hours a day, for many years, before even thinking of turning professional. Some may give it up long before they become proficient. And even should they pursue their musical studies, and become skilled at playing the violin, there are only a limited number of professional [...]
Kill Whitey Day
by Michele Carlo 04/27/2008Neighborhood: Bronx, East Bronx
I was standing in the basement of Macy’s Parkchester in The Bronx, in a line of what seemed like a thousand teenagers, smoking both cigarettes and weed, chanting and cheering and waiting for Ticketmaster to open. Adult shoppers were non-existent and salespeople had abandoned their posts either in foreknowledge or in fear, except the lone [...]
Strange Bedfellows
by Nora Maynard 12/09/2007Neighborhood: Times Square
Time really is the great leveler. The other night I went to BB King’s Blues Club and Grill to hear the Psychedelic Furs of all things. Or a better way to put it, in my case, would be that I went to hear the Furs at BB King’s of all places. Either way, you get [...]
Leaves of Grass
by Neil R. Mooney 12/01/2007Neighborhood: East Village
I slouched on my unmade bed in the murky mid-afternoon twilight, back against the wall, staring forlornly out the window. The sooty red bricks across the air shaft, crusty with flecks of ancient pigeon shit, provided little comfort. I tried casting my eyes around my room every now and then, for variety, but that was [...]
A Word From Number 4: Hat’s Off to the Homeless
by Jessica Mazo 06/09/2007Neighborhood: Upper East Side
At the risk of sounding insensitive – I normally have zero patience for whining panhandlers. I had an unpleasant experience a couple of years ago when I bought a homeless guy a slice of pizza. He then showed up five minutes later, with his friend, asking if I could buy them both a beef patty. [...]
To Every Dog Its Bone
by Suzanne Comeau 12/31/2006Neighborhood: Lower East Side
I felt like I owed him something, even if I couldn’t say what. It wasn’t money. I closed my eyes like a dead man and gave those coins to the nuns on the corner. My brother is a music publisher. I’m not really sure what this means, but I’m proud. People always ask about it. [...]
The First Emperor at New Rochelle, Theater #16
by Peter F. Eder 12/31/2006Neighborhood: Across the River, Letter From Abroad
Tan Dun’s new opera, “The First Emperor,” which premiered in December at the Metropolitan Opera and included Placido Domingo in the title role, was a complete sell-out for its run. The Met’s new GM, Peter Gelb, created a unique opportunity to expand the audience, by telecasting the WQXR “Live from the Met” broadcast in cities [...]
Spinning Tables at the Frying Pan
by Ellen Moynihan 08/10/2006Neighborhood: Chelsea
I had never gone to the Frying Pan—the restored boat/event space docked beside the Chelsea Piers—before last week. It was one of those places that I’d almost been to a bunch of times, but never actually made it. I nearly didn’t go that night, either, but I’m glad I did, because I think I ended [...]
