You are currently browsing the stories about the Lower Manhattan neighborhood
A Tourist’s Guide to Lower Manhattan
by Wendy B. 08/01/2021Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
February 1996 is bitter and icy and windy and numbing. My boyfriend Raz and I have been rendered homeless due to our depravity, immaturity, and stupidity. By day, we relax at the Lower East Side needle exchange, the Beth Israel methadone clinic, or our favorite diner, Leshko’s, on Avenue A. Nighttime is more problematic. We […]
Super Poems
by Dan Hubbs 01/26/2020Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan, Tribeca
Waterbugs Before I was a super If you asked me what A waterbug was I’d of said One of those little things That kind of runs on the top Of ponds or quiet pools On the sides of streams But at 258 Broadway Down in the sub-basement where I had to make my way through […]
Spice World
by Amy Rigby 01/19/2020Neighborhood: Midtown, Theatre District
My daughter Hazel, after ten years of listening to what her parents wanted to hear and wanted her to hear, found music that neither her father or I could lay claim to, pop music designed for girls her age: Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera. We’d taken her to see Bob Dylan at Jones Beach […]
Summer of ’68
by Kate Bernadette Benedict 09/30/2018Neighborhood: Castle Hill, Lower Manhattan, South Ferry
As the 6 train chugged past grimy buildings in dicey neighborhoods, I felt I was being safely transited through vast danger zones. In those days before air conditioning, the train’s windows were kept open, so the amplified sound of screeching brakes and rumbling wheels was a constant assault. Mature ladies fanned their dripping faces with […]
The Final Summer of My Father’s Life
by Steven Goldleaf 08/25/2018Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
The final summer of my father’s life, I worked for him as a runner, making food deliveries at his restaurant. He and I weren’t getting along too well. I had just turned seventeen and my mother had died the previous winter, either one of which would have meant a strained relationship, but the combination was […]
Elevator Days
by Joseph Scalia 02/10/2012Neighborhood: Financial District, Lower Manhattan, Manhattan
Whenever I go to a party or I am introduced to people I don’t know, they invariably ask me what I do. “What do you do?” And I always tell them, “I am an elevator operator.” I say that I drive an elevator in downtown Manhattan. The reaction to my announcement varies. Some people smile […]
I Can’t Go!
by Thomas R. Pryor 08/16/2011Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
“Jeez, I hope he hurries.” The doctor said to his nurse. “I don’t want to miss my train.” “Me, too. I’ve got to get my kid by 5:30pm.” Her answer tinged with aggravation. Hearing this exchange through the bathroom door, my bladder shut down. I was on the 60th floor of the Woolworth Building, the […]
The Singing of God Bless America By A Woman Condemned To Death
by JP Olsen 02/14/2011Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
Throughout the 1950s Stan Novick was locked up at least four times in “The Tombs,” Manhattan’s now-closed city jail and holding cell on White Street. Pictures from that time show “The Tombs,” now torn down, as a Dickensian sort of place with looming towers and small windows. Photos of Stan Novick at that time show […]
The Lucky One
by Emily Azur 08/16/2010Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan, Manhattan
I celebrated my 60th birthday and my 25-year job anniversary the same year my employer accepted billions of TARP money. And then, on a bright July morning, I was laid off. I could pretend that it was because business was changing, as the notice letter said, or that there was a need to make more […]
Political Joyride
by Sam Roseme 07/31/2010Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
We bounded out the exit of the Municipal Building like two cowboys pushing through saloon doors. Kurt set the pace as he trotted to the VIP parking lot, where six black Lincoln Town Cars belonging to elected officials and agency commissioners rested during the dignitaries’ brief visits to their offices upstairs. He reached one of […]
The Magic Life of the City
by Sherri Rosen 03/25/2010Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
It was a lousy and bleak first Sunday in May. I walked into City Hall Park, in my neighborhood, and Richard the gardener greeted me and introduced me to the other volunteers. “Can I pull out the tulips?” I said to Richard. “ My knees are in bad shape and I’m afraid of making them […]
Imperfect Strangers
by Amanda Green 09/07/2009Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
There’s a low of five degrees today, and a woman gets off the 2 train with no hat, gloves, or scarf. An older man offers her some space under his umbrella, and she graciously accepts. I walk ahead of them, keeping my eyes down and forward to keep from slipping. Having underestimated the snow, I […]