You are currently viewing the stories for July, 2011
Mr Beller’s Neighborhood Reading Series
by Connor Gaudet 07/20/2011Neighborhood: News
Readers on July 22 are Peter Nolan Smith, Robin Kilmer, Royal Young and JB McGeever. The host is Connor Gaudet. Peter Nolan Smith left New England in 1976 for the East Village. The nightlife became his vehicle for traveling the world; Paris, Hamburg, Nice, and London. His career ended at the Milk Bar in Beverly […]
Bear Patrol
by Rob Williams 07/19/2011Neighborhood: Midtown, Park Slope
The door to Karen’s office was open and I waved a little hello as I entered, indicating that I would only be a second. Karen was the creative director at the magazine publisher where I was freelancing as a copy editor. I thought there was something cozy about her, something very motherly, in a distracted […]
Cy’s Place
by JB McGeever 07/19/2011Neighborhood: Midtown
The voice on the phone is asking what I see, and since this is the third time we’ve spoken, I’m feeling a bit chummy. “Police cruisers,” I say, taking in the block. “A whole shit load.” We’ve been tracking each other since Penn Station, this voice and I, for precautionary reasons I’m told, and this […]
My Father’s Father’s Coney Island Costume Jewelry Shop
by Mara Grayson 07/19/2011Neighborhood: Coney Island
“It was 1958,” my father says, “the year my dad opened Marcelle’s Jewelry Store on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island. You should have seen this place. I wish there were pictures now, but who would have taken pictures of some shoddy storefront on Mermaid Avenue? Displayed in one window were all the pieces of costume […]
Spanked
by Nathaniel Page 07/08/2011Neighborhood: Chelsea
WHAP! The paddle hit my ass. The first time I recall getting spanked, I was four. I had stolen a box of matches and lit a fire behind my house. My father spanked me down the hall. The last time I recall getting spanked, I was 25. I was in Paddles, New York City’s main […]
We Need Someone Who Speaks English
by Granger Greenbaum 07/08/2011Neighborhood: Midwood, Williamsburg
Before I came to a stop at Bedford and Broadway the workers were attempting to flag me down like I was piloting a rescue helicopter. I’d asked Rob to translate for me in order to get the best guy for the job. Two young men approached the passenger side with hopeful expressions. “You speak English?” […]
The Day the World Did Not End
by Robin Kilmer 07/08/2011Neighborhood: Harlem, Uncategorized
The world was supposed to end on May 21, 2011. One man I spoke to at a bar was a little disappointed when Earth was still turning at 12:01 AM on the 22nd. I guess that’s what you would expect from someone who is sitting by himself. His face was ruddy with alcohol and he was […]
Trash Fiorucci
by peter nolan smith 07/01/2011Neighborhood: Midtown
In the late-70s Fiorucci on East 60th Street was the style center for the disco world of New York. The windows boasted the latest flash fashion from Italy. These trendy threads guaranteed almost immediate entrance into Studio 54 or any exclusive disco in Manhattan. Joey Arias was the store manager in the summer of 1977 […]
A Requiem for Secondhand Books
by Peter Wortsman 07/01/2011Neighborhood: Greenwich Village, West Village
She: I want to buy you a good book for your birthday. He: What would I do with a book? Buy me a new body! —Conversation overheard between a man and a woman. When I think of second-hand books, I think quite literally of anonymous fingers reaching out to me from beyond the grave. I […]
The Bookie
by Hillary Miller 07/01/2011Neighborhood: Flatbush
I attended elementary school in a non-descript brick building across the street from Mostly Books, whose humble proprietor, Sandy Tishcoff, was our local celebrity sighting. He was an unlikely one, spending his hours squinting at a microfiche mounted on his desk, from which he would divine book orders in the days before Add To Cart. […]