Eddie Ekis’s mom worked at the local Five & Ten store. You know–the ones with the mechanical jalopies and wild palomino horses outside the store that cost a dime a ride. On Friday night, Mrs. Ekis, the Assistant Manager, was responsible for closing the First Avenue store at 9 PM. With a little tidying up,… Read more »
In October of 1960, Mom was pulling for Kennedy and Dad was rooting for Nixon. I couldn’t have cared less one way or the other—my thoughts were on baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates had just crushed my heart by beating the Yankees in the seventh game of the World Series (to this day, I still wonder… Read more »
Summer’s almost gone in New York City, but the beauty of the season reveals itself in many ways. Two that move me: the severity and speed of weather changes, and the final days of the sun’s slow descent until next year. In the past week, I’ve been caught in the rain twice (along with the… Read more »
Next Tuesday, August 14th, Garland Jeffreys—one of my songwriting heroes—will perform at City Stories: Stoops to Nuts at the Cornelia Street Cafe. It’s a family affair: Garland, Claire, and Savannah Jeffreys will take the stage along with Robert Conroy, one of my favorite artists from the Loser’s Lounge. Jeffreys is a New York City treasure. Please… Read more »
I’m a rabbit who’s never left his warren. My family has lived on York Avenue in Manhattan since 1896. I own the horseshoe that hung over the front door of my great-grandparents’ apartment at #1403. I already have 1500 old photographs of Yorkville, but nothing pumped me up like my recent discovery of the Walker… Read more »
I saw this 1967 Chevelle on 81st Street last night and was taken back to a moment at the John Jay pool, late summer, right before 8th grade. It was an after-dinner swim and there was a sweet evening breeze. Freddy Muller and I were playing that stupid game popular with 13-year-old boys: taking as much… Read more »
New York comes to my rescue every day. I have a tendency to get sad without warning, and my fail-safe method for battling the blues is to meander along city streets on my bicycle. I find beauty everywhere I turn. My family has taken 2000 photos of the city since the year 1906, and I… Read more »
