Throwback Thursday:Any Weekend 1970s

Old Friends:
For a small corps of us weekend meant busting out and heading for a museum, the Cloisters, Central Park concerts, or just roaming the Village hunting out new eating spots, or getting some sun. Pretty much the only time we wanted to leave the Village - because of tourists.

My oldest and dearest friend, Ted. Met in 1964 at the World's Fair became roommates in college, enjoyed each other's company.  Made each other laugh and knew more about one another than we ever cared to admit. Ultimately worked with Pan Am Airlines until they fell apart.  This caused an emotional meltdown from which he never recovered. He died in a group home in 1990.

Friends Sandy (slightly out of frame) and Bob taking a walk and getting some Spring sun on the Morton Street Pier following a Sunday Brunch at the Ramrod on West Street. The place where I had my first Rum Bloody - Bloody Mary made with dark rum instead of tasteless, cheap vodka. Great food, great friends with bikes, skates, and pretty people on the pier. Both are gone. Deaths are too gruesome to relate here.

These guys and those fun times are sorely missed, but remembered with great fondness.

An so it goes.
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Throwback Thursday: NYC

Westside Highway El and Hudson River - 1979-80 (Click any image to embiggen.)

This decorative art deco designed wall was actually the right side of an entrance ramp from West Street up to the elevated section of the old West Side Highway, just south of the  Village. These were narrow roadways. Vehicles entered from the left in the photo and were northbound as they entered the highway above. This is where my Raleigh and I would usually enter the otherwise closed roadway, ride north and get off at 57th Street. Or, ride back if I was only out for an afternoon ride.

The remains of the Christopher Street Pier. A great place for villagers to get some sun, cruise, and have lunch by the river. One may have been asked to share a sandwich with someone already there. No strings. The Hudson didn’t stink so much anymore in those days. Thanks to Pete Seeger and his Clearwater Project. The pier was torn down a short time later. Note: This seemed the perfect shot with that beautiful schooner heading up river just about dead center amidst destruction.

Don’t remember the name of this pier, but it mirrors the previous state of the Christopher St. Pier and most piers south of it.  It too, came tumbling down within a few months. As did all the others in the years that followed.

And yes, another picture on the EL with the grand view of the Hudson and the New Jersey docks.  Behind me, on my right, those green buildings were (if memory serves) the docks for the Hoboken Ferries that ran from Manhattan to Hoboken. They were run by the Port of Authority or PATH. I don’t think they were in operation at the time.

I loved my life back then, village life, great friends, good job - and tending bar part-time at a village bar - enjoying everything Gotham had to offer. I lived there at just the right time (for me) to take it all in. 

And so it goes.

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Throwback Thursday: West Side Highway

Cycling - 1976  Westside Highway closed from the Battery to 57th Street.   Biking paradise. Weather permitting, I rode my bike to work from the village to the upper west side. Usually made it in less than 10 minutes, and no taxis to dodge - or curse.

Looking south to the Battery and the New World Trade Center Towers. It had opened a few years before. The old wharfs seen at right are gone now. It's all flat roadway, a promenade, and the Hudson River.

And so it goes.

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Happy Pride, Two!

The image I posted yesterday is sooo 2013.  This is the tribute to Pride 2014 via  Empire State Pride in all it's glory.

If you celebrated, I hope it was an experience you'll long remember. Cheers!

Onward and Upward!

h/t: JMG

Happy Pride Day

To New York City and the World.

More later.
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New York World’s Fair - I've Got Proof

A while back I posted a piece about reading “Tomorrow-Land: The 1964-65 World’s Fair and the Transformation of America”.  In that post I reminisced  about working at that very same World’s Fair and the fun to be had for those of us lucky enough to do so.

I’ve received a number of comments from disbelievers suggesting that I’m not old enough to have worked at that Fair.  Well, let’s put that puppy to bed right now, shall we.

 

Above is the employee ID card for the 1965 season.  (Click to embiggen.) This one survived because after the 1964 card disintegrated, I had this one laminated.  One of the few smart things I did during that period.  Oh, and yes, the photos were taken using one of those photo booths like those in Penny Arcades back in the day.  This was 1965, the dark ages of this sort of technology. Mr. Moses did everything on the cheap.

Unfortunately, none of my original photos from that era survive.  They were lost in the settlement of my previous life and never returned to me. But, I have my memories and this physical reminder.

And speaking of photos, I’ll get the slide copies off the old Windows machine today.  I scanned them into the PC over a year ago, and then the PC up and died.  I’ve waited for 9 months for a co-worker to retrieve them.  He remembered when he got back from Romania 2 weeks ago and finally did the deed.

There are few shots of myself - but I’ll post them anyway. I like to think of them as a part of my history.  Others may simply point and laugh.  Hey! Whatever works.

And so it goes.

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A Fair Weekend and a World’s Fair

Turns out those Friday afternoon storms that caused the blackout/power outage lasted for about 3 hours tying up traffic, causing bad drivers to show their lack of driving abilities (as well as their bad tempers) and shutting down businesses on a 3-mile stretch of busy commercial real estate. 

As mentioned in the earlier post, the city of Rehoboth wasn’t affected, which (thankfully) is usually the case. The rains however, didn’t let up until late evening. Leaving us with a very quiet and peaceful night. 

Yesterday dawned with blue skies and mild winds and I got out to run a few errands.  Even went down to the beach, grabbed an iced coffee and sat on a bench by the ocean for a while before taking a walk on the boardwalk, and heading back home.  The fresh air was good for the soul and body.

The town is packed with people for the weekend and the weather is supposed to be lovely, in the 70s throughout. I want to get the shopping done early this morning before anyone begins to stir or get on the roads.  Also early enough that I can enjoy another iced coffee on the boardwalk before the hordes finish breakfast/brunch. 

Sounds like a good plan to me. The 2 units of blood seem to have boosted my energy level this weekend. Still not sleeping much, (the Benadryl only offers a few hours at best) but I’m not falling all over myself in a stupor, either. 

This is a new book I’m currently reading and since I worked at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair it’s a eye-opening look at the overall picture of what NYC - and the world - was like during the years from 1960 through 1967 and how the events of the time played a big role in the failure of the Fair. Yes, Robert Moses was the biggest problem, but the entire country played a huge part in the changing attitudes of the times, mocking the message and theme of the World’s Fair both years. “Peace Through Understanding” was hardly a realistic outcry of the times. 

I’m little more than 60% through and it’s a good read. Anyway, it brings back memories and forces me to think of where I was while the world changing events were taking place all around me. I remember many of the incidents sited in the book only vaguely since I worked 6 - 7 days a week for the 2 years of the exhibition, spending the other hours either under ground on the subways to and from work, or at home, pretty much sleeping as much as possible. 

The fact that I would become part of the social unrest and the anti-war movement less than 2 years later, the gay rights movement 3 years later, makes me chuckle today.

That said, I made lots of money and had a great time. The Fair was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.  The book is giving me an overall view of what I was only slightly aware of all those years ago.

And so it goes.

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1100 Diagnosed with WTC-Related Cancer. Why, Thank You and FUCK YOU!!!

I'd like to say a few words here, if you don't mind.  FUCK YOU, RUDOLPH GIULIANI (Mayor of 9/11),  FUCK YOU CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN (Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (from 2001 to 2003 in THE CABINET OF GEORGE W. BUSH.) Well, aren't we totally fucking surprised?  Not. 
And a gigantic FUCK YOU TO GEORGE W. BUSH (initiating the coverup in the first place. "No toxins in the air!"  Indeed.  They should die in a fire.  Now this from Yahoo News:

More than 1,000 people who have lived or worked near ground zero, including first responders, have been diagnosed with a cancer related to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, health officials say.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1,140 people have been certified with a WTC-related cancer. And that number is expected to grow, the Daily News reports.
"There are more cases out there, because we just know of the people in our government-funded medical programs, not those who have been treated by their private doctors,”  Dr. Jim Melius, chairman of the WTC Responder Medical Program, told the newspaper. “Because of the carcinogens in the air at ground zero, people who were exposed are vulnerable. And with cancer, there is a delay.”
Tina Engel, an oncology nurse at North Shore Hospital’s WTC clinic in Queens, told the paper she identified 12 new cases in the last two months and has another 25 patients whose diagnostic test results are pending.
“The good news is that with new federal funding, I get what I need when I need it for our patients," Engel said. "Their biopsies and scans are turned around in a week. Cancer trumps everything.”
As many as 65,000 people, including first responders, became sick from 9/11 exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A Mount Sinai Medical Center study cited by the Daily News found a 15 percent higher cancer rate among first responders than among people who were not exposed to the toxic air.
Marty Cervellion, a 63-year-old city engineer who spent more than two months at ground zero following the attacks, developed gastroesophageal cancer in 2011.
“It was always in the back of everyone’s mind we were in jeopardy given the contamination down there, but the entire world was calling on you," he told the Daily News. "It felt so good to serve, there was no wanting to escape."

Anyone with half a brain (George W. Bush excluded) knew there was no way the air was free of toxic chemicals at the site.  It was only a matter of time before the truth would surface.  Not that the three above care much. Only the Mayor of 9/11 may show his face, but I doubt it. The other two are far away from the spotlight.  And that's as it should be.  Wonder if the media will pick up on this and hunt them down.  Especially Whitman who emphatically denied the rumors of toxins at the site or anywhere in the area.  They ought to be in prison.

And so it goes.
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Dance Palace Remembered

The year is 1978, the dance palaces in NYC are 12-West, Flamingo, Truck Stop, and Chameleon and this was on the playlist of almost every DJ.  This is the entire recording, so sit back and relax, or get up and dance.  Romeo & Juliet by  Alec R. Costandinos. From the You Tube Description:

I wanted to hear this on Youtube and couldn't find the complete version on one track, so here it is! From beginning to end. All 15 minutes and 24 seconds of it! Have NO doubt people...this is the single greatest #1 Disco song of the 1970s!!! VERY IMPORTANT! YOU MUST LISTEN TO IT COMPLETELY TO SEE THAT I AM RIGHT (because the song gets better and better as it plays on). Only a few came close to this one: "Love in C Minor" by Cerrone, "Disco Nights" by GQ, "Souvenirs" by Voyage, "Come to Me" by France Joli, or "Love is the Message" by MFSB. Yeah, close...but not close enough. ROMEO AND JULIET WAS THE BEST! -

Anne Marie in Philly is dancing herself into a frenzy if she remembers this one.  Love you, girl friend.

And so it goes.
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Digital Signals End of Historic Movie Theatres

A sad reality as the big movie palaces come down and the sterile, boring multiplex takes center stage. There is nothing to compare with the experience of watching a film on the big screen of one of the well-appointed old grand theatres - many a 100 years old.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The license plate on movie projectionist Arnie Herdendorf's Buick is 35MM MAN, a nod to his work in the booth at the 1925 Palace Theatre, with its velvet-draped stage and chandeliered mezzanine.
When he drove recently to a multiplex to watch as its film projectors were swapped out for new digital ones, the sight of old 35 mm workhorses "stacked up like wounded soldiers" had him wondering how long his title – or job – would be around.
The questions are even bigger for historic movie houses themselves.
With the future of motion pictures headed quickly toward an all-digital format played only on pricey new equipment, will the theaters be around? Or will they be done in by the digital revolution that will soon render inadequate the projectors that have flickered and ticked with a little-changed technology for more than 120 years?
"Our guess is by the end of 2013 there won't be any film distributed anymore," said John Fithian, president and chief executive of the National Association of Theater Owners.
The Hollywood studios' industry-wide conversion from 35 mm film to digital satisfies modern-day demands for crisp clarity, cost savings and special effects like 3-D. And for big-budget theaters where new releases occupy multiple screens, installing digital projectors is a no-brainer. Already, about 60 percent have converted in the United States, at a price of $70,000 to $80,000 a screen, Fithian said.
But for the community-owned Palace and other small and historic movie houses, the merging of nostalgia with high-tech is a dauntingly expensive proposition. Yet one, most agree, that is critical if they are to keep attracting audiences to their light bulb-studded marquees. The cost is more than double the price of a top-of-the-line film projector.
"The Riviera Theatre is listed on the historic register, but we are not a museum," Executive Director Frank Cannata said from the 1927 theater north of Buffalo, "so it's important that we stay current ... and staying current isn't always affordable, as we're all finding out."
An estimated 500 to 750 historic theaters currently show movies, according to the Theatre Historical Society of America, though it adds no one has formally researched the number and the estimate is conservative.

There's more HERE.

Many of these theatres began life by showing 1 or 2 reel movies between vaudeville stage acts. The image above is the famous Beacon Theatre in NYC. A grand palace, indeed. (click image to embiggen.)

And so it goes.

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Chocolate, False Claims, & A Cultured Pearl

Whatever the weather, every March the RB Annual Chocolate Festival is a huge draw and this year was like no other. Although the doors opened at 11:30am, there was not a parking space to be found in town by 9am. This included my street (parking is free in the off season though no one is guaranteed a space - resident or visitor) which was filled before I left for work.  Fortunately, I left the car parked in front of the building.  I may be crazy, but not stupid:

The weather was nasty on Saturday morning with heavy rain and gusting winds; by the time the festival opened the place was already packed to the limit within 20 minutes. The festival was supposed to end at 3:30pm, but there were so many visitors waiting that it remained open for another 1.5 hours.  No joke!

The restaurant was already short staffed for the lunch shift on Saturday when another server called in sick. This day historically, has been very busy - we were already completely booked for dinner - so I let the Locosguys take the lead. We had 4 good servers and 2 novices on the floor and their stations were assigned accordingly.

While all this is going on, I received a call from a frantic quean who claimed he had left his coat at the restaurant the previous night.  I checked, and he didn't.  He called again and this time he was missing his cell phone and was "certain" he left it at the bar.  He hadn't.  A few minutes later he's back on the phone insisting  he was absolutely, positive that he had left his iPad, Kindle, and shoulder bag last night.

By this time I was up to my eyeballs with last minute minor emergencies and was sure this guy was high on something besides life.  I said, "look pal, if you can remember where you spent the night maybe you should call there because none of your belongings were found here." He said I was being rude and that I probably stole his things myself. (I do not work nights)  I said, if that's what you believe, you certainly made it easy for me, didn't you."  He hung up.

Today was comfortably busy with everything - front and back of the house - running smoothly. I enjoyed a quick AS (after shift) cocktail and headed out.

As I returned home I ran into a neighbor who works at the Cultured Pearl, a popular, pan-Asian restaurant around the corner.  She was getting ready for work and suggested that I stop by; today being the annual sushi feast and I might enjoy a few appetizers. I haven't been anywhere outside of DL in years, but I changed into something a bit more comfortable and took a walk over. 

There was a large crowd on all 3 levels (only the roof garden was closed) enjoying all kinds of goodies. There was no sign of Donna, so I took a seat at the sushi bar and ordered a glass of wine and an appropriate snack.  Leaving the barman to choose.  He smiled and returned with a delightful something consisting of rice, seaweed, and ahi tuna.  It was delicious and went down well with the wine (he also chose for me), but it was getting crowded and I had my fill of crowds this weekend, so I asked that he let Donna know that I came by.  A nice initial experience out in the local world. I did it, enjoyed it, and will do it again soon.

And so it goes.
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The Met's New Gallery with "Washington Crossing the Delaware"

A controversial, (some hate it while others love it) though iconic painting is the star of the new gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I paid my respects to this mammoth painting in the 70s  while it was the crown jewel of the Washington Crossing Museum in Pennsylvania. I was struck by the size of the thing, paid no attention to any flaws that only the art-elite had noticed, and didn't care. I thought it pompous and just right for its time. Anyway, an interesting story and I thought I'd share.

It was quietly dismantled at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art by staff who didn't like it, shuttled around the country for years, and held hostage in Pennsylvania by a woman who really liked it. Starting this week, Emanuel Leutze's iconic "Washington Crossing the Delaware," once the Met's redheaded stepchild, is back as a star.
Leutze's ode to the U.S. revolution now anchors the third and last addition to the museum's $100 million, 10-years-in-the-making American arts wing. It's a far cry from being kept in a small side gallery or eagerly sent on loan across the country, as it had been by the Met for more than 100 years. Since Monday, visitors can enter the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture and Decorative Arts -- 26 new Beaux Arts-style rooms lit by the sun -- at what wing director Morrison Heckscher calls "the 50-yard line." Leutze's painting ("the goal post") sits 150 feet west at the end of a clear sight line past high-coved rooms, made to look the way Americans would have seen it in 1864.
It wasn't always this way between the Met and its famous charge. Indeed, the museum's 48-page Leutze-centric issue of its quarterly bulletin (which visitors can and should get their hands on) reads more like a case file for a brilliant but difficult foster child than the story of a prized work of art.
From the moment Leutze's operatic panorama entered the Met's holdings in 1897 as a gift from philanthropist John Stewart Kennedy, the museum struggled with whether to display it at all. Though the painting was popular with crowds, it wasn't considered great art. It is rife with historical and physical inaccuracies (so much so, an artist was commissioned to correct it last fall). Plus the work is too large to ignore or easily get rid of. At 12 by 21 feet, the 1851 canvas could easily shade a pair of midsize Hummers parked side by side. Its surface area exceeds that of all other works in the museum's American collection, and (not unlike a Hummer's size) is both why people love it and hate it.

The rest of the fascinating story is HERE, which also contains a slide show.

And so it goes.
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Secret Train Beneath the Waldorf Astoria

Some readers know that I am fascinated by, and love stories like this.  Part history, part mystery, part deceit, and all American. This is the actual train car that carried FDR and his automobile up to and ultimately into the Waldorf. (Click to embiggen.) There's a slide show, as well. 

From the Gothamist:

Over the weekend we had a chance to visit the long-abandoned Waldorf-Astoria train platform, which allowed VIPs to enter the hotel in a more private manner—most famously it was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, possibly to hide the fact that he was in a wheelchair suffering from polio. The mysterious track, known as Track 61, still houses the train car and private elevator, which were both large enough for FDR's armor-plated Pierce Arrow car. Legend has it that the car would drive off the train, onto the platform and straight into the elevator, which would lead to the hotel's garage. Trainjotting has some more history regarding the platform, known as Track 61, and notes that the quest for it "has become a holy grail for many urban explorers."
Some fun facts regarding the timeline of the tracks: It was first used by General Pershing in 1938, and less than 30 years after that, in 1965, it was the venue for a party thrown by Andy Warhol (fittingly called The Underground Party).
Click through for a look yourself. This space will likely never be open to the public... unless you're a squatter—"by 1978, the platform was known as one of the many places in Grand Central Terminal where squatters lived." However, current construction on the new LIRR extension has probably taken care of that (though despite the construction, MTA spokesperson Dan Brucker tells us the train car will remain).

h/t JMG

More later.
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Irony: Katrina vs. Irene

It's ironic that Hurricane Irene slashes her way up the east coast of the US on the same weekend Katrina did the same to the Gulf Coast 6 years ago - almost to the day.  Katrina came ashore for the final time on Monday, August 29, 2005 with catastrophic results for the entire region. Especially Mississippi.  It took the direct hit. (Tomorrow is Monday, August 29, 2011.)

New Orleans was spared the brunt of Katrina only to suffer flooding of 80% of the city caused by the failure of levees designed and built by the Army Corps of Engineers, hours after Katrina came ashore.

Irene chewed her way up the coast causing chaos in the southern and mid-Atlantic states before slamming into New York, leaving the 5 Burroughs of the city virtually cut off from one another due to the shutdown of mass transit, not expected to be restored any time soon. Buses may be up and running in time for Monday's commute, but that's a drop in the bucket. 1.5 million NY homes are without power with the storm surge and flooding from rain and high winds taking their toll, as well.

Here in Lower Slower Delaware we took Irene's punches, fortunately nothing compared to what happened in Gotham.  There are 20K homes without electrical power here, and that's not good.  Folks with homes on, or near, the Rehoboth and Delaware bays or the Atlantic have not yet been allowed to return to assess damage.


My friend Elizabeth is returning from exile tomorrow hoping to get into her place on Rehoboth Bay.  She expects the worse, but the roads may be in passable condition by then. I hold hope that there is little damage to her wee cottage by the bay.

It was weeks, in some cases months, before residents were allowed in to New Orleans or surrounding parishes following Katrina.

All things considered, tiny Delaware, and even NYC will be repaired, restored, replenished and back in business in a few days, or weeks. Rehoboth Beach will be open for business tomorrow morning.  New Orleans remains, in many neighborhoods, a scene of devastation and while there is always hope and talk of rebuilding in those areas, well, it's been 6 years, hasn't it. 

As you think about Irene and her path of destruction all the way to New England, please take a moment to remember what happened to "the city that time forgot" 6 long years ago.

And so it goes.
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Research Sounds Alarms on Rising Sea Levels

Quite a lot to think about here. From the University of Arizona:

A 1-meter increase in sea level doesn't sound like much.
But the 3.3-foot rise would be enough to flood 90 percent of New Orleans, 33 percent of Virginia Beach, Va., and 18 percent of Miami, according to scientists.
With the release of a University of Arizona-led study earlier this week, evidence continues to mount that the polar ice sheets are melting at a rate that could profoundly affect coastal regions unless greenhouse gases are reduced worldwide, scientists say.
"Sometime before the end of this century, we will cross that critical threshold where the Earth will be committed to 4, possibly more, meters (13.2 feet) of sea-level rise that could occur at a rate as high as a meter per century," said Jonathan Overpeck, a UA professor and atmospheric scientist.
He and other scientists aren't certain when that point will be reached, but he believes it could be in the middle of this century.
Overpeck is co-author of the UA study that examined the effect ocean warming will have on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and predicted how much water temperatures could increase by the end of the century.
The research, published in the Nature Geoscience journal, predicts warmer oceans will cause the polar ice sheets to melt faster and cause sea levels to rise higher than previously thought.
The study comes as climate change and its potential impact on the Earth's environment remain a hotly debated topic. Some skepticism about whether climate change is occurring lingers, but much of the debate now centers on whether the causes are man-made. There is little political agreement internationally on how aggressive nations should be in trying to reverse the trend. Some leaders don't think anything can be done at all.

There's lots more HERE.

 

And so it goes.

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Palin's Garish Bus Has New Decoration

One of the seven million residents of Gotham decided to tart up Palin's bus by adding a sign above the over-sized image of Preamble to the Constitution.  Bus was parked outside of FOX while Palin was inside. The new addition reads: "I, The Media Whore".

Some things are better left unsaid.  No?

"In Comes Company" - With Neil Patrick Harris

While I loved  Raul Esparza's Bobby  in the 2008 Broadway revival of Company, in a very unique production, I was a bit put off by the characters having to be their own orchestra, and sometimes missing a musical cue. Hey, that happens.

Of course my fave was Larry Kert and I mourn his passing to this very day. However...

With his musical abilities blossoming I suggested to other "friends" of musical theatre that NPH would make a great Bobby for a revival of Sondheim's masterpiece, COMPANY.  Now there is this news.

Given the relentless work schedule of Neil Patrick Harris, the “How I Met Your Mother” star and perennial awards-show host, one sometimes wonders if the outgoing message on his voice mail ends, “Whatever you’re calling about, my answer is yes.”
Mr. Harris has just said yes to another exciting proposition: he will star in a production of “Company,” the Stephen Sondheim musical about a perennial bachelor, his dating life and his good and crazy married friends, to be presented by the New York Philharmonic in April, the orchestra announced on Friday.
The performances, which will run from April 7 through 9, will be produced and directed by Lonny Price, who with the Philharmonic has also overseen star-studded productions of “Sweeney Todd” and “Candide,” and will be conducted by Paul Gemignani with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.
In a telephone interview Mr. Harris praised Mr. Sondheim for “filling every beat and note and moment with some intention.” He added: “It just allows the performer a great opportunity to mine as deep as they choose. My day job requires a shallowness that will be fun to play against.”
In this “Company” Mr. Harris, a veteran of the Philharmonic’s “Sweeney Todd,” will of course be playing Robert (a k a Bobby, Bobby Bubi and Robert Darling), a seemingly un-pin-downable single man celebrating his 35th birthday.
The character is not unlike Barney Stinson, the lothario Mr. Harris plays on “How I Met Your Mother,” though the actor said there were differences between the roles.

I would love to see this, but...read the rest HERE.

Olives and supper await.  It's cold and the wind has been brutal - 20 to 30 mph - so I look forward to hunkering under the covers after a shower.  Sure would be nice to have someone to hold me too close, someone to know me well, someone to pull me up short and put me through hell and give me support for being alive...but.

And so it goes.
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A Holiday Plea for Homeless LGBT Youth

Just passing on this important message from the Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center.
A guest post at JMG: 

It has been a rough holiday season for the Ali Forney Center.

The day after Thanksgiving I received an e-mail from the City of New York, informing me that due to budget problems, they were slashing their support for homeless youth programs, greatly defunding street outreach efforts and drop-in centers. Our drop-in support is being cut in half.

I prefer to talk about our housing programs, and the remarkable resilience that so many of our residents show in rebuilding lives that have been shattered by homophobia and family rejection. The realities we deal with in our two drop-in centers are harder and more brutal.

In New York City, there are 3,800 youths who sleep on the streets every night. Over 1,000 of these youths admit to being LGBT. There are only about 250 shelter beds for homeless youth in NYC, so the great majority are left stranded on the streets. LGBT kids from all over the country flock to our drop-in centers for the food, showers, medical care, mental health treatment and other forms of support we provide.

Our case managers work valiantly to help find shelter for these kids, but the reality is there are so few safe options for LGBT youth that we are often forced to advise them on how to survive while sleeping in places like subway trains, parks, abandoned buildings and construction sites as they wait for one of our beds to open up. Yesterday one of our case managers described spending the afternoon trying to find shelter for a girl who had just come to us. When his efforts were exhausted and he had to tell her that she would be out on the street for the night, she sat in his office and cried.

I hate what I see our kids going through. So many thousands of vulnerable kids being cast out of their homes for being gay, deprived of all family support, and forced to fend for themselves without the resources to survive. I hate the way the suffer violence and degradation on the streets, the way they get gay bashed in mainstream shelters, the way so many have to survive through prostitution. I hate seeing youth be so deeply traumatized.

This phenomenon of thousands of LGBT youth being thrown out to the streets by parents who will not accept them is the most terrible face of homophobia in our time. Is there is a greater wrong being perpetrated against our community? I do not understand why protecting our terribly violated and abandoned youth is not the top priority of the LGBT movement. I do not understand why our advocacy organizations are not fighting to make certain that our tax dollars are allocated to supporting these abandoned kids. It is a nightmare that there are so few resources to protect these kids.

With these budget cuts, our ability to provide our drop-in centers is jeopardized, but I am not willing to reduce what little support these poor kids have. The drop-in centers are the safety net for the kids out on the street and I cannot imagine closing our doors. We desperately need an outpouring of support from the community to keep our drop-in centers open. Please be as generous as you can in this time of trial and, please, see if you can persuade friends to help.

Online donations can be made by clicking here.

Checks can be sent to:

Ali Forney Center
224 West 35th Street, Suite 1102
New York, NY 10001

Thank You!

Carl Siciliano
Executive Director
Ali Forney Center

I can never understand how families in 2010 can still be this barbaric regarding their own children. It still boggles the mind.  Help out as you are led.

And so it goes.
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Remembering John

I was on a commuter bus from Lake Hopatcong, NJ to my job in NYC at 4:15 a.m. when a muffled cry from another passenger broke the sleepy silence. She had been listening to news radio and as she struggled to hold back tears, told everyone she was sorry for the outburst, but she had just learned that John Lennon had been shot and killed outside of the Dakota.  John lived in that building.

Arriving in NYC at 5:30, a few of us postponed work and headed up to the Dakota on Central Park West only to find hundreds of people there for the same reason. We *needed* to be there. It was hard to believe and many were sure it was a mistake.  It wasn't. Some were under the impression that he was only wounded, not dead.  That simply couldn't be.

Like so many others, I remember where I was that day, just as we remember where we were when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. That is the power and beauty of John Lennon.

It's hard to believe it's been 30 years!  I will be in line Friday when this issue of Rolling Stone hits the stands. I want to read the whole thing.

NEW YORK — John Lennon's fans celebrated his life Wednesday by visiting Strawberry Fields, the Central Park garden dedicated in his honor, while a newly released interview he gave shortly before his death showed he was optimistic about his future.
On the 30th anniversary of Lennon's murder outside his Manhattan apartment building, admirers played his music nearby at Strawberry Fields and placed flowers on a mosaic named for another famous Lennon song, "Imagine."
"I grew up with his voice," said Marissa DeLuca, 17, who came to New York from Boston with her father, Paul DeLuca, 50.
"The Beatles are the soundtrack to my childhood," she said. "His voice is just kind of like home."
Her father said, "Nothing is timeless like the stuff John and Paul (McCartney) wrote."
In the interview, conducted just three days before he was gunned down, John Lennon complained about his critics – saying they were just interested in "dead heroes." He mused that he had "plenty of time" to accomplish some of his life goals.
In Liverpool, where Lennon was from, hundreds were expected to gather for a vigil Wednesday around the Peace and Harmony sculpture, recently unveiled by Lennon's former wife, Cynthia, and their son Julian in Chavasse Park.
Jerry Goldman from The Beatles Story, a museum dedicated to the band, said the monument has brought even more people to Liverpool: "The city is very excited that we finally have a focal point at which to remember Lennon and look forward to a vigil that will reach out to people the world over."
Lennon's final interview was released to The Associated Press by Rolling Stone on Wednesday. The issue using the full interview will be on magazine stands on Friday. While brief excerpts of Jonathan Cott's interview with Lennon were released for a 1980 Rolling Stone cover story days after Lennon's death, this is the first time the entire interview has been published.

More HERE.

It's very cold today and a perfect day to watch the Warner Brothers' documentary "Imagine"  on DVD which contains the film and a whole lot of special features and interviews. I will remember John today.

And so it goes.

NYC:Abandoned City Hall Subway Station Visible Again

I remember seeing this once back in the 70s when there were constant problems or fires on subways causing re-routing of trains quickly.  No one believed what I said I saw. How grand it was, even unlit. There was no such station, they said.  Well, here you go.  (click image to embiggen.) Vindicated after 4 decades.  I love stories like this, but you knew that.

If you ride the 6 train to the end of the line and get off at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, you're missing out on something incredible. As the train loops around to go back uptown, it passes through an abandoned and beautifully preserved City Hall station from 1904.
The city closed the station in 1945, mostly because at its height only 600 people a day used it, and because the loop created an unsafe gap at the platform. In 1995 the city vowed to restore the site and turn it into a part of the transit museum, but those plans were scrapped years later.
The station is still not open to the public, but there's a trick you can use to see it for yourself. Until recently the MTA would force passengers to get off before the train made the loop, but now passengers are allowed to stay on. So the next time you reach the end of the line, keep going. And check out these amazing photos courtesy of John-Paul Palescandolo and Eric Kazmirek.

The photos are amazing, as you'll see HERE.