You are currently viewing the stories for April, 2006
New Orleans: Election Day
by Johnny Adriani 04/27/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
Election day in New Orleans has always possessed a flare unlike anywhere else in the world. My first recollections of how crazy election day can be come from 1989. Nothing, however, topped 1991, when Edwin Edwards and David Duke competed against each other in the run-off. Nothing, that is, until Saturday’s semi-circus atmosphere outside the […]
My Only Regret
by Thomas R. Ziegler 04/27/2006Neighborhood: Bronx, Outer Boroughs
Arriving before the engine, with fire blowing out two windows on the third floor and people in the street yelling, “There’s two kids in there” our asses are about to be kicked and there is nothing we can do about it. It’s 1977, and Lieutenant Annello leads the way as usual. He is simply the […]
The Woody Watch
by Sean Altman 04/27/2006Neighborhood: East Village
Day 1 One day in 1999, an item in the New York Daily News noted that Woody Harrelson is in town and on the lookout for good pickup basketball. Sure enough, the star of “White Men Can’t Jump” showed up at my gym today for the daily lunchtime game. This was not my first brush […]
A Blues Clues Companion Was I
by Kristine Simmons 04/20/2006Neighborhood: Across the River, Letter From Abroad
I, Granny, took the helm at approximately 1200 hours. Steering a true course, all was calm for the day. The squab finished his mess; skies remained calm, no squalls of crying. Grandson and I played toss with a small orange ball and spent hours crawling around. Tumble salts off my legs; giggles of delight. Peek-a-boo’s […]
Caviar & Coleslaw
by Julie Lanway 04/20/2006Neighborhood: Midtown
It was during my second month in the new office that I determined I was in love. She was standing next to the fax machine, paperwork in hand, bending over slightly so she could read the message in the small screen. She had a short skirt and long legs. They looked very shapely but solid. […]
Waiting to be Deciphered
by Alex 04/20/2006Neighborhood: Astoria, Queens
On the way to the laundromat I passed a message chalked out on the sidewalk. In large, neat block letters on a square of pavement it read: “The best part about the night was taking the train home with you.” The note seemed to be directed at the building across the street, but looking up […]
Mole Person
by Kurt Rademacher 04/13/2006Neighborhood: SoHo
On my way down the steps I was stuck behind a man with a cane, so I missed the D train. In my head I said, “Curses,” then clarified out loud, “Not you,” to the guy with the cane. He had enough problems. I didn’t think the next train would be long, though, because it […]
Talk Your Way Out
by Brian Shuman 04/13/2006Neighborhood: Midtown
On my first day of the assignment I was pointed toward a stack of newspapers and told to find a pair of scissors so I could cut out any articles mentioning Hillary. My supervisor’s name was Jennifer. She was waving an adding machine above her head and ticker tape hung by her face like a […]
Me and Bobby Blow
by Sherri Rosen 04/06/2006Neighborhood: Chelsea
I was walking down the steps to the downtown train at West 23rd Street & 7th Avenue. I heard a trumpet being played and someone singing. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I see this guy sitting on a bench facing me as I was slipping my Metrocard through the turnstyle. He […]
Astronomical Odds
by Johnny Adriani 04/06/2006Neighborhood: Letter From Abroad
The odds for winning the Powerball are146 million to one. I would suppose that finding the winning ticket lying on the street would be a million times the 146 million to one. But I do propose to you the question of how likely it would be for a mayoral candidate of New Orleans to be […]
Calling Mr. Spinoza
by Helen Klein Ross 04/06/2006Neighborhood: Midtown
I was walking to the office even though it was Saturday—this was years ago when I was gainfully employed and hadn’t the time I do now to dredge up incidents from the past and turn them this way and that—when I noticed a woman walking towards me, pushing a baby in a stroller and holding […]
Home Address: When NoLita was the Bowery
by Steve Turtell 04/06/2006Neighborhood: East Village
I moved into 292 Elizabeth Street in the fall of 1976. On a Sunday night. I was skipping out on three months rent at 242 E. 10th Street on the corner of 1st Avenue and figured it would be easiest to do when there was less traffic and not many people around. Unfortunately, the Maltese […]