You are currently viewing the stories for August, 2022

Love, Liberally

by 08/28/2022
Neighborhood: Internet

It was January 2022, almost a year since my breakup. The air was chilly and filled with Omicron. I’d reached my limit of stoical solitude and turned to OkCupid. My profile, I hoped, would present as light, clear, and open.  I used phrases like, “Bundling up and dining outdoors these days.” Read: I’m risk-averse but […]

MINKIE’S TUCHUS

by 08/21/2022
Neighborhood: Crown Heights

There was no sex in Brooklyn in the late 1940s. If desire affected my crowd (the 15 some odd members of the Gems Social and Athletic  Club, with whom I hung), it had to do with the Dodgers and urging Jackie Robinson to steal another base, or imploring Rex Barney to throw some strikes, or wishing Pete Reiser […]

Louie and Me

by 08/14/2022
Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn

“Mr. Hamm, this is Detective Scarcella. You’re the guy who only said one nice thing about me–that I’m ‘fit.’ ” “It’s true!” I replied.  “You were the big guy in the back, correct?” he said, referring to the Brooklyn courtroom where he testified in mid-May.  “You could say that, sure,” I said, taking his jab.  […]

Looking for John Belushi 

by 08/07/2022
Neighborhood: Bowery, SoHo, Tribeca, Union Square

It may be ever-present, this sense that we are teetering on the edge of apocalypse, but these days it seems the custodians of volatile and otherwise crazy behavior are on a whole new level. I won’t pretend that when I was in my 30s and running around on weekend nights with my friends that we […]