Indian Summer Gallivant Along Hudson Street

Visited the Church of St. Luke in the Fields on Hudson Street and discovered two boot wipes built into the nearly 200 year old stoop banister on the Parish House. Inside the church’s garden gate there was a sun soaked enclosed terrace with a southwest exposure. 

Walking south on Hudson Street turned left on St. Luke’s Place and saw Indian Summer in full bloom outside and inside James J. Walker Park.

2011 Best Record ~ Ward White's "Done With the Talking Cure"

Thinking about my favorite records this year, topping my list is Ward White’s “Done With the Talking Cure.” The accomplishment of this record is while listening to it I’m reminded of the Beatles “Revolver,” “Painted From Memory,” the Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello collaboration and “Lovers Concerto,” the 1965 hit by the Toys that stole neatly from Bach’s Minuet in G Major.

Ward White & Claudia Chopek @ Cornelia St. Cafe

I wish I made other decisions in my life as easily as I decide whether or not I enjoy a record. It happens fast and without doubt. There is not a weak tune on this record and the haunting and cynical lyrics sometimes don’t automatically add up with the timeless high tenor voice singing them.  That contrast works well for me.  The songs arrangements especially the string section reminds me of a George Martin production. They are feisty and sweet and compliment the cadence perfectly giving the entire record a cinematic glow.  I was lucky to hear this record before it was reviewed to form my own opinion. But I thoroughly agree with two comments in two reviews.

The New Yorker said, “"Brooklyn’s Ward White sports a sweet, high tenor whose hints of fragility are just a ploy: when he goes after the dramatic top notes, he nails them... soaring, lyrical pop."  The New York Press said, “Ward White comes across as something of a musical John Cheever.”

“Done With the Talking Cure,” is my favorite 2011 album. Over the next week, I'll tell you which records matched up nicely with Ward's and sit on my top five 2011 list. It was a close call. They are all great.

Harry Potter Meets the King of Poland in Central Park

Harry Potter Meets the King of Poland in Central Park ~ very weird ~the moment I took this photo this kid stepped in front of me and waved his wand.

Lladro Figurines Hop for the New York Giants

Yesterday's Giants victory over the Patriots takes its place as one of the greatest regular season wins ever. Eli’s 5th fourth quarter comeback this year, lifts him up to the special room reserved for Giant Quarterbacks who’ve proven their mettle: Benny Friedman, Charlie Conerly, Y.A.Tittle & Phil Simms.

New York Giant football is a Yorkville family tradition going back to the late 1930s. As a boy my father’s favorite football player was the Green Bay Packers receiver, Don Hutson, because the best football team on the eastside was the Yorkville Packers and Dad was a receiver who aimed to play for them. When the Giants begin to form their core championship team in the mid 1950s and moved to Yankee Stadium from the Polo Grounds, Dad went from being a fan to a card carrying nyg football nut.



My grandmother spent her last 8 years in Jewish Home on the Westside. During that period I watched countless New York Giant games in her room, Frank 510. I was targeted by the nursing home staff as a fall Sunday afternoon problem. I once got so worked up during a Cowboy game I jumped over my grandmother’s bed with her in it. As I passed over, her arm went up and nearly took me down by my trailing leg.

Yesterday's Giant game brought back this New York Giant regular season memory.

November 1986, 12th game of the year, Broncos versus the Giants. Dad and I were watching the game in his Mom's railroad flat on York Avenue. It was a tight game and late in the contest with the Giants down and the Broncos driving George Martin intercepted a John Elway swing pass and ran it back 80 yards to the end zone where he was tackled by Lawrence Taylor. The play unfolded slowly giving Dad & I a couple of opportunities to step up our excitement.

When the ball was tipped by Martin we leapt to our feet, when we knew Martin had it and was running the right way we started jumping up and down, when we saw he scored we continued jumping up and down on the linoleum hugging each other. Unfortunately, my grandmother’s floor was not entirely flat and declined towards one wall. As we celebrated Nan's two prized Lladro porcelain figurines started hopping from left to right across the top of the TV set.




Dad & I were making like Ruth & Gehrig, screaming, hugging each other, jumping and these things are near the edge of the TV ready to go off. I think the cat & dog’s mouths were open watching this.

Just before one of the expensive knick-knacks went airborne, I heard “Holy Shit!” And saw my grandmother’s big hands come through the doorway. She swooped both figurines up into the skirt of her housedress. She looked at us and said, “Son of bitches,” and returned to the kitchen until the game was over.
Giants won 19-16.

Yes, The River Knows

My family has lived near the East River in Yorkville since 1896.  I own the 115 year old horse shoe my great grandparents, Antonino and Giovanna Cuccia, placed over their apartment’s front door for good luck at 1403 York Avenue, one house south of the corner of 75th Street. They operated a fruit stand on the corner (see pix below from June 1906) and Antonino made red wine in his building's basement to help support five of them.

I dream the East River and see the past when I walk along it, strolling south or north.

Yesterday, I saw a tug boat with a happy face headed towards the 59th Street Bridge, I waved to the river man. I discovered a chocolate Bundt cake water fountain, the Chrysler Building saying good night to the United Nations and Tudor City, and the Long Island City Skyline which is starting to sprout and will lose its knickers and earn a pair of grown up pants with a few more skyscrapers.

Yes, The River Knows.
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The next City Stories: Stoops to Nuts show is Tuesday, November 15^th @ 6pm @ Cornelia Street Café.  

November’s storytellers & songsmiths: Cris Beam, Michele Carlo, Taffy Jaffe, Thomas Pryor, Lianne Smith & David Terhune.  Large family gatherings will be discussed. The $7 cover includes a free drink.  A swell deal, please join us! 

The Whole of the Moon Over Central Park

Cleaning yesterday, I came across a cassette a friend made for me in 1990. The Waterboys were new to me at the time. The first three songs on the tape were,“The Whole of the Moon,” “Fisherman’s Blues” & “A Man is in Love.” Each tune took me to a kodachrome place.

Biking east at twilight across the 102nd Street transverse in Central Park last November, I saw the whole of the moon over Fifth Avenue. This past summer I sighted a fisherman who may have been blue, a bird against a blue sky and I definitely saw a man in love on the Coney Island boardwalk walking towards the Parachute Jump arm in arm with his sweetie. 

Songs always lead me to photos and scenes, and scenes and photos always lead me to songs, I’m never alone and easily cheered by all if it.

Bird Jumps Over The Moon On Prince Street

I was in the wrong place for a Susan Shapiro writing panel last night (McNally's instead of the NYU Bookstore) but I was in the right place to watch this bird jump over the moon on Prince Street. When I realized it was the wrong event I scooted to NYU for a great panel on the strategies for publishing a memoir.


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Confronting Pain On 18th Street

In August 2003, I was walking myself to my second total hip replacement at Joint Diseases on 17th Street & Second Avenue. Not sure that was wise. I circled Stuyvesant Square and paced up and down 18th Street before I got the guts to walk into the hospital.

It was my fourth general anesthesia I should have been OK, but I wasn’t. I thought it was a great idea to remember everything that went wrong with my last hip replacement in 2002 ~ a 19 day stay in the same place (got a blood clot).  In doing so, I not only remembered the little tricks I thought might improve this recuperation, I also remembered every crappy painful thing that I had no control over and the ride on the gurney was only hours away.  I was not feeling good about my ass being carved open and my leg sawed in two.

The only things that cheered me up that morning were these buildings on 18th Street.  I focused on them and made myself a promise I’d get through it all quick, so I could come back and enjoy these 1852 homes in all kinds of light.

On the same block this year, I spied these creatures crawling along a building. They made me think of the Sneaker Pimps.

Seasonal Change in Central Park

Took a bike ride through the park yesterday. Spent time at the Mall reading friends' work. Looking around seeing the park switching it's window dressing over to toasty Halloween orange, yellow & brown, I thought about seasonal change and how it reassures us there is a cycle to every living thing and for a certain period and time we all get to renew ourselves and we should never waste a season. Get a warm coat, walk around, you'll see wonderous things.


I've written a memoir about growing up in the 1960s in a Manhattan working class neighborhood called, "Yorkville: Stoops to Nuts." There are 42 linked stories with many old and new photographs. If you been following my work for the last three years, or just started, and you enjoy what you read and see, please tell your friends I am looking for an agent to help me sell this book to a publishing company. Thank you.