You are currently viewing the stories for December, 2010
Death Comes to The Fenwick Arms
by Mr. Murphy 12/31/2010Neighborhood: Upper East Side
I’m holding the door open for Mr. 11A and his dog, but when he sees the Medical Examiner’s van and the police car parked in front of the building, he stops, leans in close to me, and asks in a stage whisper, “Do they suspect foul play?” I tell him that the police had only […]
The Critical Moment
by Christine Nieland 12/31/2010Neighborhood: West Village
It was one of those perfect early spring evenings. The kind when the breeze just brushes your face so softly, when boyfriends drape their arms around their girlfriends’ shoulders as they stroll along, and the young moms and dads let the little ones run a bit ahead, giggling, happy to be liberated from coats and […]
Scooter Boy
by Neil Stein 12/31/2010Neighborhood: All Over, Manhattan, Park Slope, The East River
I was almost killed the other night. Really. That’s not so unusual because for the last number of years I’ve been riding my motor scooter all over New York. This has made me fair game for the city’s automobile drivers. Each trip I take turns into a mortality tale. I love riding my scooter. I’m […]
Christmas Eve
by Kenneth P. Nolan 12/24/2010Neighborhood: Windsor Terrace
On Sundays, we had a big roast beef or pot roast or leg of lamb which we ate Monday as leftovers. Tuesday was meat loaf or roast chicken with my Mom’s tasty gravy. Wednesday a lamb or pork chop. Thursday’s was Italian–spaghetti with meat sauce, not bad considering we were dopey Irish. Friday was Mrs. […]
Angel Reading
by Amelia Blanquera 12/24/2010Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
I had seen psychics in the past, but I was watching my budget. I needed some guidance but my usual clairvoyant’s fee of $150 was too steep. So when Mia suggested an angel reading at $40, it was just the check-in I could afford. Mia was an early adopter of different healing modalities. She’d vet […]
Speed Shrinking for Love
by Kate Walter 12/24/2010Neighborhood: East Village
On Friday night of Valentine’s Day weekend, I found myself on the exact same block where Slim and I saw a lesbian couples counselor for several months in 1995. What a weird déjà vu to be thrown back here alone, not for therapy but for a Speed Shrinking book party tossed by my straight colleague. […]
Guns Guns Guns
by peter nolan smith 12/19/2010Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Kids in America are supposed to like guns. Our movie heroes majestically wield weapons on the silver screen and TV cops dance through primetime gun ballets. Armed with air rifles and plastic weapons my friends and I played WAR in the woods behind my house. Imaginary bullets tore holes through the make-believe Nazis and Japs. […]
Door Buzzers that Never Ring
by Flo Gelo 12/19/2010Neighborhood: Williamsburg
I leap down the stairs, unlock and swing open the wrought iron gate. Priscilla, my best friend and playmate, is leaning against the fire hydrant, fidgeting with her treasured Elvis Pez dispenser. She runs to me, pulls on my sweater, and drags me to the corner of Madison Street. Speechless and excited, she nudges my […]
Son of Sam Got Me Out of Guitar Lessons
by Tom Diriwachter 12/19/2010Neighborhood: Staten Island
New Dorp Lane, even in 1976, was a traffic jam of cars in search of parking for the shops and restaurants up and down the strip. On the corner of Clawson Street, was Lane Music, its window drawn with a transparent yellow shade. Inside, guitars hung on one wall, while, opposite, were the doors to […]
How to Be a Staircase
by Jennifer Sears 12/15/2010Neighborhood: East Village
So you want to be a Staircase. Not just any staircase, one simply doing its duty, getting the job done. No. Like narrow Incan footpaths terracing the open expanse of the Andes or the ancient, airless passageways descending into Pharaonic tombs, you want to serve in the tradition of Great Staircases that have come before […]
The Slow Death of a Magazine
by Raanan Geberer 12/15/2010Neighborhood: West Village
For seven years, I worked at Energy Saver’s News, a trade magazine that reported on commercial and industrial energy conservation. Six of those years were at the old Fairchild Publications building on East 12th Street near Fifth Avenue. It was a great neighborhood to work in: We were near both Stromboli Pizza and Ray’s Pizza, […]
Bloody Angry
by Steve Turtell 12/15/2010Neighborhood: Prospect Heights
I had my first paying job, making deliveries for the local butcher when I was twelve and in the eighth grade. I was not yet eligible for working papers, but the butcher on Washington Avenue, two blocks away, didn’t require them. I knew how to ride a bike and was from the neighborhood—my mother bought […]