No. 76 - A Record Player in New York
1,000 Words. 4 Minute Read.
Similar to antiquing, I see these records and think to myself that someone enthusiastically went to a record shop with this exact album in mind. They’d been obsessing over it for weeks, like any other music freak. They couldn’t wait to get back home and listen to it, maybe with friends at a cocktail party or by themselves on LSD with bulbous headphones. And now, all these years later, it’s in a Greenwich Village shop with thousands of others, each with its own story.
No. 74 - Discovering Tribeca
1,046 Words. 4 Minute Read
I walked past DeNiro’s Tribeca Grill and started to take in the peculiarities of the pre-Civil War buildings. I strolled up and down wide cobblestone streets flanked by ancient loading docks and warehouses with faded block letters from the companies that once occupied them. Despite the transformation of mercantile factories into galleries and the most expensive real estate in the city, there’s a comforting authenticity to it all, as if nothing will ever change, including rickety awnings and peeling paint on nineteenth-century handrails.
No. 68 - Jazz in West Village with a Spy
574 Words. 2 Minute Read.
Arthur’s is one of those rare places that feels like you’ve been there before on your first visit. They have nothing to prove, and they know it, which makes for a warm environment. We were there in late March, and Christmas wreaths were still up… it’s that kind of place.
No. 67 - Lost in SoHo
1,426 Words. 6 Minute Read.
I prefer taking the scenic route – always. It doesn’t matter if I’m in New Orleans, Carmel, or simply driving to the local library. You can bank on me finding every piece of interesting architecture and historical landmark and visiting them, to the exclusion of everything else. I can’t help it. I truly can’t. There’s a skipper in my brain whose call sign is Captain Disaster. He’s an excursionist who despises maps, itineraries, and clocks. He has full control of my faculties and operates with a broken compass.
No. 66 - Lower Manhattan & Harrowing Memories
718 Words. 3 Minute Read.
Wind darts through the West Village like two kids playing tag, here one second and gone the next. But its presence adds a layer of warmth to a crisp Manhattan evening.
Women are bundled up in wool jackets, smart-looking gloves, and scarves of varying lengths to keep their pale winter necks warm.