Now & Then ~ 81st Street Staircase on the East River

81st Staircase @ 1941

First photo here is a 1941 photo of the sparkling new 81st Street staircase between the East River and the FDR roadway (note the air raid siren). The other photos are along 81st Street looking towards East End Avenue & York Avenue and the staircase area during the peak storm at high tide and the morning after Sandy.

If you live or lived in Yorkville on the Upper Eastside odds are you spent quality teenage time under the stairs with your feet dangling over the water, maybe with tunes on the radio or your cassette player, with your pals, with you girl, with your boyfriend, this was a prime spot for Friday night cocktail hour. This week they cut the section over the north bound FDR. The new ramp (not stairs) is a year away and will look like the ramp at 78th Street.

Tomorrow night, I'll work this into my reading at We need YOU for Sideshow Goshko's Film Shoot 3/17! Thank you, Leslie, for letting me sing the praises of long gone street life. We made the most of what we had.

Thursday night, tomorrow, Leslie Goshko, has a super duper special We need YOU for Sideshow Goshko's Film Shoot 3/17!Guess what? I'm in it. Yes, Master of Disaster, the funniest person I know, cuckoo crazy nuts Ms. Goshko, invited me to read from my memoir, "I Hate The Dallas Cowboys ~ tales of a scrappy New York boyhood." I'm pleased as punch, and hope you can come toBennett Media Studio, 723 Washington Street on St. Paddy's @630pm. Last time I passed that spot, Shawn Colvin was walking in to the building... you never know. And afterwards, we'll get our Irish up, "Erin Go Bragh!"

Check out my 1960s memoir, "I Hate the Dallas Cowboys - tales of a scrappy New York boyhood." at Logos Book Store or online at Amazon (114 five-star reviews out of 114 posted) or Barnes & Noble. "River to River ~ New York Scenes From a Bicycle" my photography portfolio is also available online.

Starting March 30th, I'm working with the New York Public Library's Neighborhood Oral History Project, "Upper East Side Story." If you lived on the East Side between 59th St. & 96th St. for 25 or more years (the longer the better) and you would like me to interview you about your history in the neighborhood, please email me at tommy.pryor@gmail.com. I'll email you back a document describing the project. It will be an easy conversation where I listen to you talk about where you came from. Your recollections will become part of the permanent record at NYPL, available for the public to hear.

81st Staircase 2012

81st looking towards EEA

High Tide during Sandy

East End Avenue 1940