You are currently browsing the stories about the Crown Heights neighborhood

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 […]

A Pool Grows in Crown Heights

by 06/05/2022
Neighborhood: Brooklyn, Crown Heights

It was the start of another 90-something degrees day. The sixth floor bedroom I shared with my seven-year old brother and five-year old sister on Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights was sweltering. Our apartment was on the top floor directly under the building’s roof, which drew in the sun’s heat with a vengeance, through its […]

Glory Days: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 1948

by 10/24/2021
Neighborhood: Crown Heights

“We’ll have tables for each of your epochs,” Judy brimmed. “One for your elementary school friends, one for your high school friends, one for your college friends, one for your law school friends, and one for your now friends.” She was planning a 70th birthday party for me and was on a roll. “It’ll be such […]

The Boys of Crown Heights

by 08/08/2021
Neighborhood: Crown Heights

Dr. Schpahl looked like a Nazi out of central casting. A thin mensur crawled down his right cheek, across his pock-marked face, to below his mouth. He spoke in clipped, accented barks, most of which were expressions of severe disappointment. That he was a Hebrew teacher and not a camp commandant may have been a […]

Roommates

by 10/19/2019
Neighborhood: Astoria, Corona, Crown Heights, Ground Zero, Harlem, Hell's Kitchen

I’ve spent time in over 20 countries and at least 40 US states. In my travels, many people have told me that though New York City might be a nice place to visit, it’s certainly not a place for a person to live. But thank God there is a New York.  One of the best […]

The Bed Story (Or Why I Never Sell on Craig’s List Anymore)

by 08/22/2012
Neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights

Over the course of two years living in Brooklyn, I moved six times, including a failed attempt at cohabitation with my then boyfriend in what turned out to be an illegal sublet. The first thing I did when I moved into my second place, located in the West Indian section of Crown Heights was buy […]