You are currently viewing the stories for December, 2005
The Lucky Children of New York City
by Emily Horowitz 12/22/2005Neighborhood: Inwood
The public school kids of New York City learned that they could go to school 2 hours late during the strike. At least for the kids who live within walking distance of the school, and didn’t have to take a car service or walk miles in the cold, this was fun and exciting. When I […]
The Midtown Report: The Life We Never Tell Our Families About
by J. Paul Ghetto 12/22/2005Neighborhood: Uncategorized
This morning, before I was able to take my coat off, my #1 Work Wife, Brianna, confronted me about my conduct at an after-work affair, last Friday. She scolded me for leaving her sitting unattended and drink-less at the affair. One might ask: how does one find oneself in such a predicament? I’d have to […]
Christ Zig, what did you do?
by Thomas R. Ziegler 12/22/2005Neighborhood: Bronx, Outer Boroughs
Christ Zig, what did you do? Whenever I’m asked if the fire department had an effect on my personal life, those six words explode into my brain. It’s a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon in 1977 at the Bronx zoo with my wife and three kids. The kids are riding a camel and shouting what all […]
Last Call for A Tiger
by Patrick J. Sauer 12/20/2005Neighborhood: West Village
Tale of the Tiger #1: Three weeks ago. One of my best friends from growing up in Billings, MT, stand-up comic Auggie Smith, moved to New York after years of occasional visits and constant prodding on my part. We go out to celebrate and hit the Blind Tiger on a Sunday night. We settle in, […]
New Orleans is Dead
by Johnny Adriani 12/15/2005Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
12 December 2005 It has been some time since I have written an update concerning New Orleans. In truth my delinquency is due to the fact that I have been extremely busy in the process of cleaning up. You know when I am busy when you do not receive a rambling of text ranting about […]
The A-B-C’s of Flying
by Joseph Scalia 12/15/2005Neighborhood: Brooklyn, Rockaway
I have found that the tedium of flying is exceeded only by the greater tedium of waiting to fly — of arriving at the airport hours before takeoff, inching slowly along serpentine lines with the hoards of other bored or frightened fliers, waiting to have my Nikes examined by shoe-sniffing dogs and a magic wand […]
Christmas Envy
by Linda Morel 12/15/2005Neighborhood: Upper East Side
Because I’m Jewish, my Christmas decorating habit started small. Creating yards of silver sparkle, I drizzled hundreds of tinsel strips on hanging plants spanning my living room window, which overlooks 77th Street near First Avenue. I clustered evergreens in vases too. Although my husband David came from a more observant family than mine, he didn’t […]
The Toy Collector
by Thomas Beller 12/11/2005Neighborhood: West Village
1. It was a cold, early evening in autumn, and the street was crowded with people. I walked down the street looking down. I was focused on the tiny people in my mind. A friend had been making pottery and attaching these tiny little people to it. She hovered over a large magnifying glass and […]
Cruising Times Square in the 1970’s
by Jill Dearman 12/07/2005Neighborhood: Times Square
I was still young enough to like am radio. I hadn’t been exposed to the much cooler fm stations yet. Sometimes, when we drove into the city, my father listened to Bernard Meltzer’s call-in advice show. It wasn’t so psychology-based, just heavy on common sense and consumer advice. Women could find out how to get […]
Billionaire Spermatozoa and Deadly Peking Ducks
by Ken Paprocki 12/07/2005Neighborhood: Financial District
I, along with the rest of the catering staff, had no idea that the party that evening was for a billionaire when we arrived at the loading dock of the old Cunard Shipping Building by Battery Park. All the details had been kept hush-hush until the last minute. Only when all 70 cater waiters and […]
Funky Piers of Tribeca
by Kate Walter 12/01/2005Neighborhood: Tribeca
I’m savoring the last days of Pier 25, which closes next month for a three year renovation. I loved this funky wharf in Tribeca– a rest stop on my daily bike rides through Hudson River Park. I would visit the Sweet Love Snack Shack for a lemonade or veggie burger grilled on an old fashioned […]