You are currently viewing the stories for June, 2004
The Joseph LaRose Shoe Collection
by Betsy Berne 06/29/2004Neighborhood: West Village
If you are a female who loves shoes (or a male,come to think of it, more specifically of the queenly persuasion), you have not really lived until you’ve seen the Joseph LaRose shoe collection. The collection is showcased at Cherry, a vintage store in the West Village, known for its Fashion Meets Twilight Zone window […]
Strikers in an Alley
by Thomas Beller 06/28/2004Neighborhood: Manhattan
I came across a scene today downtown, near Wall Street. Striking iron workers, carpenters, all hemmed into a little alley. They were yelling and screaming. Periodically a group standing on a platform at the front of the alley led them in a chant: "Scabs go to hell!" Some wore hardhats, many had whistles, and a […]
Straight Talk on Hair Village
by Rachel Sherman 06/21/2004Neighborhood: Outer Boroughs, Queens
Check out Rachel Sherman’s new book! ** No one who does Japanese hair straightening at Hair Village is Japanese. You can’t have highlights if you want your hair straightened. You can’t touch your hair – even put it behind your ears – for three days afterwards. You can’t wash your hair for three days either. […]
Cubicles Are Six Feet High
by Tracy Marx 06/14/2004Neighborhood: Midtown
Morning at a Midtown Manhattan publishing company office. Cubicles house individual workers. Cube walls are six feet high. My coworker, Lilly, is standing in the corner of my cubicle when it happens. In a fit of pique over the latest uncorrected typo, she’s suddenly throwing Kung Fu kicks, whirling, twirling, balletic, her long raven hair […]
A Night in the Psychiatric ER
by Stacy Pershall 06/13/2004Neighborhood: Manhattan
It’s like this: I’m bipolar. Manic-depressive. Heavily medicated and mad as a hatter when I’m not. I have had so many days of smelling colors and hearing lights, so many brushes with the law, that I have gathered up the stories and been given the go-ahead by a young, hip literary agent to write the […]
Karaoke Fever at Spectrum
by Angela Cardinale 06/10/2004Neighborhood: Brooklyn
Auggie works in a nightclub called Spectrum, in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, made famous in the film Saturday Night Fever. Since the days Tony Manero strode across the lit floor in his white suit, the club converted into a gay club, and changed its original name. It’s been Spectrum ever since. Saturday nights […]
An Interview With Mr. Softee
by Thomas Beller 06/08/2004Neighborhood: Manhattan
I grew up in Manhattan, and for most of my life the tuneful chimes of the Mr. Softee truck have been a regular feature of the warmer months. That creaking melody is probably one of the most familiar tunes I know. It’s consoling and calming and ever so faintly haunting. Jerome Badanes once remarked that […]
Vice President of Procurement
by Matthew Roberts 06/07/2004Neighborhood: Midtown
Yes, he was wearing sunglasses inside his tinted command car. He did not exit the car; he exuded suspiciousness. I could see that he didn’t have much room in there. He was surrounded by banks of monitors and servers. Half hidden, he waited for me to explain myself. I told him my particulars, held out […]