Posts Tagged ‘Rego Park’
FAREWELL, YESTERDAY
The train hurtled eastward through Queens on an early-January day when dingy brick buildings and bare trees turn New York into the bleak set of a Tim Burton movie. As Manhattan receded, so did part of my past. I was born in the Bronx where my sister Kay had been delivered, but I grew up…
Read MoreMY MOTHER THE CRIMINAL
A century ago, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe produced many infamous American criminals. They included killers, such as Ben “Bugsy” Siegel (a key character in my novel in progress), Dutch Shultz and Abe “Kid Twist” Reles. Another legendary Jewish criminal was a woman. Well, not a criminal by yesterday’s standards. I give you my mother…
Read MoreDEATH OF THE DINER
My father Morris would have been 116 today. He’s been gone 36 years. I miss him every day. Now, I’m coping with the loss of something near and dear to both of us. New York’s diners are disappearing. The New York Times reported (May 24) on “New York’s Vanishing Diners.” Since 2014, fifteen diners have been sold,…
Read MoreGOING HOME—MYTH AND REALITY
Carolyn and I went to New York last week to see Yosi and Hurray for the Riff Raff at Carnegie Hall’s sold-out Zankel Hall. New York is “home.” I grew up in Queens—Rego Park. But going home goes only so far. Time travel constitutes risky business. On Friday, we took the subway to 63rd Drive…
Read MoreSTREET GAMES OF THE ‘50S
Unexpected memories pop up at odd times. Saturday afternoon, my mind drifted back to 1954 and the street games we played as kids in New York. While my apartment building in Rego Park fronted on 63rd Drive, the narrow side streets were only lightly trafficked. Disclosure: One, maybe two people were thrown off my building’s…
Read MoreNEW YORK NOTES
Carolyn and I just spent five days in Manhattan. I’d like to share them with you. In “The Scoop on San Francisco” (June 13), analyst Lynn Sedway stated that New York also is a hot real estate market. True that! We stayed at the Viceroy Hotel on West 57th Street. Across from us, a high-rise…
Read MoreI AM MY FATHER
There’s an old joke: When I graduated from high school, I thought my parents were ignorant and out of touch. When I graduated from college, I was amazed at how much they had learned. I write this because Sunday is Father’s Day. My father, Morris, died on June 18, 1983 at eighty. It was a…
Read More