This is 3WW. Try it!
I meant to link to Etan Patz I know even his family believes him dead and are 99% percent sure who did it. Strangely the irrational romantic in me harbors hope. Manhattan is like a small town in many ways and I worked with several people who knew the Patz family. There were so many stories, rumors and yes horrible stories about the parents people later regretted telling.
New York, late May 1979
The missing signs seemed to be everywhere. At first they shocked her. She had never seen so many, and they had always been for some teenager who probably ran away or an older person who lost his way, perhaps intentionally.
But these were for a seven year old boy, Etan Patz. His mother let him walk part way to the bus stop alone for the first time and never saw him again.
The summer of Sam had happened two years earlier. Now it was the late spring of Etan. She, like Etan and his family lived in Soho. In school a few years earlier somebody did a study of residential patterns in Soho. Almost no children lived in Soho then. Now every other block had at least two children.
Her boyfriend wanted children. They lived in a huge loft that until recently had housed a mens tie company. She didn’t think this was a good neighborhood for children. There were still many factories and some showrooms. She felt too young and too enamored with this new New York that hadn’t existed ten years earlier and was rapidly morphing into a new and exciting city. She wanted to embrace everything,
You couldn’t be timid if you lived in a warehouse district. They didn’t live in Soho proper but further west in Tribeca. Nobody had heard of Tribeca. People thought the buildings dreary but you could see the river from their loft,
Every morning she would walk 55 blocks uptown and three avenues east to her job at a publishing company. Unlike most of the other girls she didn’t have a degree in English but in Urban Studies–both undergrad and grad. The publishing company she worked for was doing a series of books on New York, both its history and today. The publisher believed in the city. So did she.
But that Saturday night/Sunday morning when she and her boyfriend walked home from an early breakfast at the Kiev after a night of dancing they were sobered by the posters and couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible had happened to New York.
Etan Patz was the first child on a milk carton. He went missing 30 years ago May 25th New York was to regain its fiscal standing but something big changed that week. You first noticed it in the missing posters and all the talk about his family. It was only later you realized that kids didn’t run as freely.
I wanted this to be more suspenseful (in the vein of last week) but I, I mean my house is having severe plumbing problems caused by a plumber. I haven’t been able to be out during the week or on Memorial Day Weekend and if I weren’t so certain the new plumbers could fix the problems I would be losing it as the flood is going under my new floors. I can’t imagine what my water bill will be next week. Yesterday I actually updated my house renovation blog today I disputed half the charges on my American Express bill. I’m running out of mindless things to do.
My plumbing problems have been solved. They didn’t have to break into the bamboo. Hate to admit it but there are times I’m so happy to see people from the land of big hair, big nails and everybody is connected–or so they think here about Jersey. I got the owner of the company’s accent down to almost the exact town. He was here Sunday. The master plumber on the job today was from the land of cheese steaks, American Bandstand, and some of the greatest 50’s music.
Tomorrow I’m having the AC inspected and then hopefully….renovation phase one through five will be finished. My vegetable plants are so happy now that water has been restored to the outside.
Nice read. Very well said.
Wow, Pia, just a powerful stroke of writing here. You feel the pressure, the angst. Nicely done.
Things can change so quickly. A powerful read.
really really liked this. the only suggestion would be in the first paragraph, “older person who lost his way or decided to become lost”, maybe to “older person who lost his way, perhaps intentionally” just to brisk it up there.
The content is awesome. I am trying to renew my faith in the safety of our cities, not naively, but want to encourage my kids to not be over-fearful.
-Meg
Dear Pia,
I had to look up Etan Patz. I didn’t know, and now I do. What an engaging piece.
I would offer one piece of constructive feedback.
A place can be abounding or swarming, or teeming, with children, or not. OK, it is not quite like pregnancy, but their seems to me to be far more of a bright line test with teeming. Slightly teeming is jarring, and that was the only jarring item in your piece.
I hope you are not offended and that I have not overstepped the boundary of the reader. And I would want to know, if I had written the prose.
Informative, interesting, captivating. Excellent choice of subject, great delivery.
Tschuess,
Chris
great story, it’s a strange world we live in, I wonder what really happened
Dear Pia,
I’m delighted that you didn’t mind. I had a very strong hunch that you wouldn’t, and, still, I have been caught out before.
Once again, although it was only implicit in my last comment, thank you for supplying this to us all. It is very enjoyable.
Tschuess,
Chris
Hello Pia~ Excellent write as well as informative. It cuts to the bone when a child goes missing and worse when it isn’t solved. One can’t help but wonder what happened to Etan that day. And, to all the other missing children. Well done. Have a nice day.
Having a child, with another on the way, teeming works for me. That was a great piece pia. I had never heard of Etan before.
I checked out the hoUse renovations, you did a nice job, not that I’d know about decorating, but it looks good, lots of hard work there.
I held my breath on this one – wonderfully written – the first child in this area to go missing was never located…a mystery for over 30 years. I’m going to breathe a bit now. Thanks for a super read and a shock of memory.
Enjoyed your TWW story. Was glad to be reminded of Etan Patz. I didn’t know it was the anniversary.
Very interesting and, as always, great portrait of the neighborhood. I never heard of Etan Patz.
I figuratively held my breath while reading this. Powerful writing – thanks for sharing.
That was delightful pia.
I also had no idea who Etan was, you worked that in nicely.
I had no idea about Etan. Not surprising. I live in India. Liked this. You do have a way with words.
You leave me grinning about your plumbers. New Jersey, long the butt of comedians jokes, would figure to know something about shit pipes. Glad you found some good help!
Growing up in New Jersey, I do remember the first milk carton messages, but don’t recall specifically the story of Etan. These stories seem so commonplace nowadays. It’s a worry as a parent, to be sure.
Yeah, I remember the milk carton kids from the television news here in the uk – cleverly done story!
Just one incredible descriptive sentence after another. Methinks that makes for a good story. And you ended it perfectly, in my opinion.
I’m always amazed at how often people in New York seem to run into people they know. I always got the feeling that each block or maybe each district was kinda like a small town in that way.
Also, glad your plants are happy. I’d hate for them to turn on you.
such a moving interesting read Pia
i thought it was suspensful
(also glad ur plumbing probs are over)
You covered a lot of material in your piece–well done. Sorry to hear about your plumbing issues.