You are currently viewing the stories for December, 2012
SMASHING KNIVES
by peter nolan smith 12/28/2012Neighborhood: Brooklyn, Midtown
In the Greater Depression the employment opportunities for a man my age were limited in New York. No company wanted to pay my worth, for a younger man will do the job for a third the wage and his knowledge of labor resistance is zero. However my absolute willingness to work has overcome most obstacles […]
After the Storm
by Peter Wortsman 12/28/2012Neighborhood: All Over
In the immediate wake of the storm nothing worked. Neither power nor light, neither running water nor heat, neither internet nor ATM, the fundamentals of middle class life, without which we don’t believe we can live happily nowadays. Fish and flesh rotted in the refrigerator. Dirty dishes piled up in the sink. Even your own […]
Born Under A Bad Neon Sign
by Corey Maloney 12/28/2012Neighborhood: Hell's Kitchen
The doors opened out onto the corner of 42nd street and 8th avenue and I was thrust out onto the neon lit streets buzzing with people. Like many before me, The Port Authority birthed my first New York experience. Unlike many, I’d never dreamt of coming to Manhattan. I’d never really dreamt of anything besides […]
Starry Night
by Kevin Kinsella 12/04/2012Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn
“If stars are lit…” – V. V. Mayakovsky Had the receptionist been Dante Alighieri, he might have strung a banner along the wall of the windowless waiting room advising visitors to “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” But the person who pointed me in the direction of this circle of Hell was no Dante–nor […]
Stellar Decisions
by Leah Zibulsky 12/04/2012Neighborhood: Upper West Side
I was supposed to meet Christopher, but not the way I met him. The circumstances were of the sort that makes people believe in a higher power, which wasn’t exactly my thing. I’m not saying it is now, but I’m not saying it isn’t. It was early December, and I was two months into grieving […]
The Threat
by Mindy Greenstein 12/04/2012Neighborhood: Flatlands
The wailing woke me at 3:00 AM. I tried to ignore it. I had to get up for work in a few hours. A bus and two subways, my commute to Manhattan was substantial. At first, I thought it must be a dog crying in the cold winter’s night. But after a few seconds, I […]