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New York in 72 degrees in January–revised

January 6, 2007 By pia

Has Bush lost whatever is remaining of his mind? Does he really want to be hated even by his own father? And we thought he wanted his daddy’s approval. No, he wants to meet Nixon in the after life and trade war stories.
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i can feel guilty over the most stupid things. Just read Fodor’s five places for singles to cruise—something like that, but that sounds…anyway, all these places were exotic, different, interesting, and I would be making my parents proud. Instead, I chose Cancun.

Please visit Shayna and wish her in-utero baby great thoughts and prayers.

I put some pictures in my photo blog. If I ever learn to batch edit them I will put in tons.

Here’s a link to The New York Times article on the hottest January day.

Here’s a link to Al’s blog. Al has great maps, insights, and isn’t jaded like me. He lives in real downtown, which I have specifically defined and will save for another time as except for the very neighborhood Al lives in, there isn’t a real downtown anymore.
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When I was young everyplace below and including 14th Street was called downtown. Now it’s 23rd Street. Every person who grew up and remained in The Bronx calls all of Manhattan downtown. Drives me crazy as we who are from the other boroughs and suburbs would call Manhattan “the city.”

Here’s a link to one of the reasons I think of leaving. Yes I would love to afford to pay millions for a penthouse, but I can’t. And most people who have penthouses also have other homes. Many of my neighbors have summer homes that they haven’t closed yet and are there now.

Here’s a link to The Times article on the hottest January day on record.
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It’s so weird to walk the streets in a summer coat. At least I think that’s what you call a houndstooth lined cotton coat I could put a sweater under and a leather jacket on top with a skirt and leggings under, and think, didn’t I wear similar things in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s?

However today I just wore a tee and jeans. Most people looked bewildered as they headed for the park. Most people looked overdressed. They were wearing sweaters instead of unbuttoned summer coats.

A man, obviously a tourist was on his cell:
“I’m in New York and it’s 83 degrees.”

You idiot, I thought with the native New Yorker’s superiority. You’re standing across from West 83rd Street. If it were 83 degrees, all people would shed coats and sweaters and run for water. Or run out of New York.

And admit it, when people come to your towns and say something obviously wrong loudly on their cells, you have that second of superiority.

It’s not that we feel superior as people. We feel superior in our knowledge of our city and our hoods within the city.

Just like you do about your hometowns.

Gray’s Papaya, a store that I can’t physically go into because of the hot dog smell, used to have signs “we are polite New Yorkers.” We are. In a brusque but friendly manner.

If we seem brusque to you remember that we have never had a major race riot, and have undergone much

This summer will be the 30th anniversary of the summer of 77. It was the summer that would form a marker in my life as it did to so many other people. Hot hot weather, a serial killer who targeted young brunette girls, racial tension, a black out, and New York was still going through tough economic times. Very tough. The only city service that I used regularly and directly were the subways. They never came on time. The stations were stanky. I never personally felt in danger as I had developed a great street face in my late teens.

It’s a summer books, movies and myths are made of because it had every element needed. And I was there. Yes I was and remember every moment of it until I went to Switzerland to stay with an old friend and her boyfriend. They lived in Geneva, and I traveled to Paris, Bern and Venice. It was a lengthy stay

Hey, I didn’t know that David Berkowitz would look just like an old friend or that Elvis would die which, sorry Bone, wasn’t very important to me then. I hadn’t yet discovered the Sun Sessions. He was just an old bloated man who wore a truly gross white suit. And I use the word “old” on purpose because he looked it. Found out about the death and capture when I arrived in the train station in Bern. It was the most modern and functional station I had ever seen. Italy had more working ATM’s than we did. The summer of 77 was really the first time I became aware of backwards America was becoming.

People don’t usually know when living through cultural history that they are. I didn’t know how important that summer would be to history and my own life. I didn’t know that when I came back from Geneva at the end of September that I would get a temp job that would turn into a career.

Most of my adult friendships were formed at Summit Inc or through it, and I should probably thank the guy who told me about a six week temp job every day of my life. He was convinced that most workers were anti-Semitic. Not.

There were 240 of us, all around the same age and educational background. I was used to richer people but was looking for friends with great values. I found them there. There were so many of us, the 240 went down by half after a layoff, then up to 1200+ that I didn’t get to know Lucia well for a year. It was like a repeat of college and my earlier 20’s. So many people to meet.

Only we were paid a living wage to basically socialize. Lucia and I have had much more prestigious jobs, careers that we love, but we always talk about Summit with awe. I was promoted twice then went to a company formed by people from Summit.

Though I wasn’t promoted as quickly as most people thought that I should have been. There was a reason, and it’s a great story that I might have told somewhere here or might not have. It had everything to do with sex and alcohol. I did just say no, and was penalized for that. Actually it was the way I said it and the physical locale.

We partied most nights after work. Most people were really artists, actors, and writers, and we formed a community. That’s always what New York’s been about to me: People from disparate backgrounds having common interests and finding one another. When I think about Summit I know that I was privileged to know New York during a truly golden era.

Over half the employees were single straight males, there were many Gay men, and us girls know that girls didn’t usually get this much attention after college and during working hours. We took it for granted because that’s what people do. It’s only later….Any sit coms, comedic dramas, films or plays about work in a large temp document coding company in the 70’s to late 80’s were my idea.

I like writing stories about that time in both personal essays and fiction because it was so wondrous. We weren’t yet called YUPPIES for one thing, and there was a transition from a hippie lifestyle to something else. All of New York was our play ground. It wasn’t as manicured as it is now, but it had soul. Babyboomer wasn’t yet a dirty word, except to our parents.

Most of us hadn’t yet become living saints to our mothers and fathers. They worried about the subways, rock music and drugs. They worried because we seemed to eat out every night or have this new thing called “delivery.” They worried because we chose to live together, put off child bearing. Generally they just worried.

Younger generations don’t seem to realize that we spent our 20’s living through something that was called stagflation–or when a recession and inflation intersect.

Good jobs or jobs for the college educated became increasingly difficult to find. The stock market didn’t rally until August 1982, and had begun to dip in 1969 so it was a long recession. Most of us managed to rise above it, while still helping to end an unjust war, and helping inner cities be revived.

Most of my friends have an “hey we did our share, now it’s our children’s turn, and the generation in between,” I disagree but see their point. Our lives weren’t as easy as people believe.

There was affordable housing but I’m not convinced that many kids today would live in places we chose to. Don’t want to sound all preachy, but amenities were something many of our parents had and we were supposed to work our way up to.

When I read about babyboomers being respectful of authority, and the “old ways” of doing business I do laugh. The people that I knew had no respect for authority or “old ways,” but we needed to work. Unemployment was extended for eighteen months in New York and Boston because there were so many unemployed people. It was the first time that a college degree, even from a good school, assured nothing.

The one and only reason that so many people went to grad school then was because they didn’t want to work at a job like mine. I probably would have gone to law school if my father hadn’t begged so much, and if I didn’t have to study. I didn’t want anything cutting into my social life.

My apartment was centrally located and there was always easy parking at night. I turned into a great hostess by default. Bloomingdales had the only great take out around. There was a Jewish one owned by the man who invented Tofutti but it was all fried and not interesting.

New York was filled with bars that served free food. New York was filled with bars, clubs, after hours, fern bar places that were cleverly disguised as restaurants so you would feel that at least one night a week wasn’t spent in debauchery, but I remember some nights, and days….

I asked my father if he would take some of the money that he was saving for me–I didn’t trust myself to have it, and put a down payment on a coop as they were beginning to become popular.

He laughed. Knowing what we know now, it would have been my second smart business decision. My first was talking my Dad into investing heavily in Big Mac bonds for it was those bonds that gave New York the economic jolt it needed.

I do consider Felix Rohaytn to be both a saviour and a god. When Ford didn’t exactly tell NY to drop dead, Rohaytn devised the bonds. They paid up to eleven percent as they were considered to be so risky. Most were called way before their due date.

I know Manhattan and parts of all boroughs but Staten Island well. It’s always been home.

I can’t help it if I’m third generation New York, and spent my first sixteen years in Manhattan walking every block so that I could know New York from the street level, remain in shape, and oh I just love to walk. Broadway isn’t easy to walk on anytime, around here. When Loehmann’s opens it will be unbearable. Here’s a link to an article on the beauty of tops of buildings on my part of Broadway.

That’s why while this weather scares me something fierce I will savor it and go to Central Park tomorrow. If this weather was what’s supposed to be normal for New York in January and was like it all year round, I would never ever think of leaving. Though that last statement is open for speculation.
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On 3/19 it will be four years since we first went into Iraq. As D Roe organized a 2,996 tribute to 9/11, we should organize both a tribute to the troops who have died, been severely injured, and might die. As bloggers our voice is becoming more important. Let us unite in our belief that this war serves no purpose. If we learned anything from Viet Nam it should have been that we can never win a war like this and have no place in another country’s civil war. The best way we can support the troops is by bringing them home.

We need Al Gore. This weekend showed that.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: personal essays

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Comments

  1. sage says

    January 6, 2007 at 7:23 pm

    yeah, if it keeps being this warm, and the ice caps keep melting, you high rise apartment might be even more valuable! I too love to talk, but I would love even more to be able to x-country ski.

  2. Al says

    January 6, 2007 at 8:01 pm

    In the long run, weather like today’s will prove the premise of “An Inconvenient Truth.”

    In the short run, however, it kinda doesn’t suck. Enjoy your romp in the park, Pia.

  3. Bone says

    January 7, 2007 at 4:27 am

    I’m telling you, we’re down to three seasons and eight planets.

    Do you still have Papaya King?

  4. Elvira Black says

    January 7, 2007 at 9:08 am

    I came “of age” during the post-hippie era. I was 12 in ’69, and was aware of what was going on but too young to participate except vicariously.

    BG was 19 or so when he first came in the summer of ’69. He had no idea there was a hippie revolution going on in NYC and San Francisco, but he has a way of walking into things like that without knowing how fortuitous they can be. All his new friends went to Woodstock; he opted to stay in the city.

    When I went to college in the mid-thru late ’70s, there was a big disco contingent–I remember the women all sported those Farrah front-swoop do’s. I was still trying to be a love child, as were plenty of others. It was a great experience all the way around. I always figured what my aunt and uncle didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them, so they had little idea of the sex/drugs/rock and roll lifestyle I’d adopted.

    In ’77, I too had my own group of like minded friends. It was easy because we were in a ghetto on Long Island with a self-contained campus. There were no parents, no chaperones–and nothing to do but make lots of friends and acquaintances and party with them, as you did with your coworkers.

    Anyway, I loved this piece. I think it really does prove that NYC is more than a city–it’s a living, breathing entity that goes through different stages, like any being does. So the NYC of the mid-70s is not the same as the one now, but this NY era is creating its own unique story. Whether it will be shitty or not–well, NY has endured shitty periods, and die-hard residents still love it for better or worse.

  5. actonbell says

    January 7, 2007 at 9:46 am

    Your memories are enviable! And yes, the weather has been wacky and scary. I went running yesterday in summer garb and sweat like a–I mean, the sweat poured:)
    Central Park! How lovely it would be, to have that there, all the time…that would be hard for me to leave behind, I must say. If we were to move again, which I doubt, pedestrian-friendly would be an important feature. We don’t have that, anymore. Our suburbia is become more and more developed and “cookie-cutter” all the time.

    Great post, enjoyed that:)

  6. Al says

    January 7, 2007 at 10:31 am

    Thanks, Actonbell for amplifying one of Pia’s recurring themes and identifying something about New York that may, over recent years, have actually changed for the better. New York remains a uniquely walkable place, and, since its recent “Disneyfication”, has become generally safer and more accessible to pedestrians — if, maybe, a bit less interesting.

    New Yorkers each walk an average of seven miles over the course of a day. Walking and bicycling account for 21% of all modes for trips in the city; nationally the rate for metro regions averages 8%.

    In the U.S., 8% of households don’t own cars. In Manhattan, the number is an (astounding) 75%.

  7. Janet says

    January 7, 2007 at 11:41 am

    I want to go on a cruise someday, I also want to travel more. Sometimes I think it’s selfish of me though when I want to choose new places Ive never been before. There’s just so little time to see it all.:(

  8. Pia savage says

    January 7, 2007 at 4:38 pm

    I don’t usually moderate comments and might never again so:

    Sage I don’t want my apartment to become more valuable that way. This is damn scary.

    Al, Al, Al–we crawl those 7.2 miles. Am going to do a multi part post on sections of Manhattan–you live in the only part that I consider to be real downtown–and it’s easy to walk at night and on weekends

    When magazines and papers do their lists of America’s most walkable cities, NY doesn’t usually make it to the top five or even ten anymore.

    I know because I haunt the cities they talk about.

    I will always be a New Yorker. It has my heart.

    But I pay in the four figures each month to live in 600 square feet that I bought without a bank being involved

    I wouldn’t mind not having a deck or patio or land and living in such a small apartment if I could actually walk on Broadway and not feel as though I’m doing a two legged crawl

    Bone–NY has three zillion Ray’s pizzas each competing for the “original”

    The Papaya King was first, then came Gray’s. you’re right–but uh I’m sure that you learned that from Seinfeld, and most of their facts are correct

    Elvira thanks for your memories. Yes I love it, but often think I can love it better from a far

    ActonBell–can only go into Central Park in winter–allergies–though they seem to have been getting better. Walked through it often this fall.

    Janet, my parents didn’t begin to travel until their 50’s and only missed Indonesia and Viet Nam, so you have much time

  9. Doug says

    January 7, 2007 at 7:21 pm

    “No, he wants to meet Nixon in the afterlife and trade war stories” is a great line. LA is the opposite. I think Angelenos walk an average of 7.2 yards per day. Not even a first down.

  10. Hillary for President says

    January 7, 2007 at 8:43 pm

    I agree what you say about BUSH and NEOCONs fact is they are ruining America. Look at how hot it has been can anyone say BUSH is causing this global warming wtih all his “trying to think” lol lol lol.

    Fact is BUSH and NEOCONS are the worst things ever in American. We need hillary clinton for president and we need her NOW!!

    IN PEACH BUSH and VOAT FOR HILLARY.

  11. Lexa Rosean says

    January 7, 2007 at 9:03 pm

    great NYC post 🙂

  12. Bone says

    January 7, 2007 at 10:24 pm

    First Pluto’s not a planet. Then we don’t have a winter. Now Pia’s moderating! What’s next?

    It is true 98% of my knowledge of NY comes from Seinfeld. But I did visit once.

  13. TonyG says

    January 7, 2007 at 10:28 pm

    Yes I love it, but often think I can love it better from a far.

    Oh, I’ve felt exactly the same way about a couple of girls I dated.

  14. Al says

    January 8, 2007 at 11:34 am

    OK, ‘fess up, Pia. I’ve asked everybody else I know about this, and they all have alibis:

    Pervasive
    Smell of Gas Thoughout Manhattan

    (And, I take back everything I said about Manhattan being walkable.)

  15. Pia savage says

    January 8, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    Yes Al New York never makes the top ten list of walkable cities anymore, because it’s not, and

    I confess though the smell woke me, I went to check my burners and remembered that I have electric ones

  16. Al says

    January 8, 2007 at 12:26 pm

    Ha! There must have been thousands of people checking their electric burners today.

    Some good can come of this, though. Maybe now they’ll have to ban outdoor smoking, too?

  17. Cat says

    January 8, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    I completely understand your attitude about the cellphone guy (my city/hood vs. tourists) because I live in a highly toured town near a ski resort and hear things like that all the time.

    It makes you want to go into a detailed description of why they are wrong and how it’s not right to misrepresent things via exaggeration.

    Bad thing is…I tend to do the same thing when elsewhere so I’m just as guilty. I haven’t yet had a local correct me though. Maybe we should start a new trend?

  18. Marinade Dave says

    January 8, 2007 at 2:55 pm

    Who is that pretty woman in your photo blog with that funny name, “Self Portrait”?

  19. steve says

    January 8, 2007 at 9:07 pm

    Yeah, supposed to be in the 20’s in Sacramento which it gets to once every few years. Chance of snow on Thursday according to some forecasts which hasn’t happened in 30 years…

    I guess because it happens in New York it’s global warming?

  20. cooper says

    January 8, 2007 at 10:16 pm

    The one thing I have to say is that in NY I walk like crazy, despite it not making the top ten list. No one in Baltimore or D.C. gets to walk like that, Unless they’re doing “The Mall” in D.C.

    This was a great post Pia.

    Loved reading it, read it twice.

  21. G says

    January 9, 2007 at 12:27 am

    Pia, I loved this post as I do all of yours, especially with NY spoken about with such great memories.

    But let’s not forget Crown Heights, that was a riot and it lasted three days. May we never know of such a thing again.

  22. Al says

    January 9, 2007 at 12:44 am

    Thanks for the support, Cooper. One thing for sure in New York, and uniquely so: you can walk your butt off for hours in almost any direction, and then, if you’re too tired, you can just hop a subway or bus from anywhere to head back home. (You’re right about Pia’s post being a good one, too. But don’t tell her I said that.)

  23. Jason says

    January 9, 2007 at 9:00 am

    Oh Pia such wonderful content! And I’m digging the photos!

    It’s always great to read about your past, because you rarely, if ever, try to sugarcoat it. That’s a skill.

  24. EsotericWombat says

    January 9, 2007 at 9:51 am

    I’ve pretty much avoided places where the entrenched Massachusetts conservatives shout from. I was afraid to hear something to the tune of, “hey, global warming ain’t so bad,” and then I would have had to hide in a corner somewhere.

    And of course, It’s always great to read about your past and the reason I’ve been quiet here of late is that I’m running out of ways to say it =P

  25. jacob says

    January 9, 2007 at 11:34 am

    This will get me trhough a few days of travel.

    Thank you Miss Pia.

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About Me

I live in the South, not South Florida, a few blocks from the ocean, and two blocks from the main street. It's called Main Street. Amazes me too.

I'm from New York. I mostly lived in the Mid-Upper East Side, and the heart of the Upper West Side. It amazes me when people talk about how scared they were of Times Square in the 1970's and 1980's.

As my mother said: "know the streets, look out and you'll be fine."

What was scary was the invasion of the crack dens into "good buildings in good 'hoods." And the greedy landlords who did everything they could to get good tenants out of buildings.

I'm a Long Island girl, and proud of it now.
Then I hated everything about the suburbs. Yet somehow I lived in a few great Long Island Sound towns after high school.

Go to archives "August 2004" if you want to begin with the first posts.

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