On the "upper west"

 Had a chance to wander around the Central Park West and Columbus Avenue corridor this afternoon and early evening. First,  went to Plaza Cinema--the"invented" movie house that is actually in a Church. Yet they program  some interesting movies--today I saw "Sorry, Baby" a well thought out and sensitive movie by Eva Victor--about a young woman recovering from a rape by her graduate school professor. The theater is mostly attended by the elderly of the upper west---they seem to flock there. But the real highlight of the afternoon was roaming around the area---walking east on 68 street from Columbus to Central Park West, and then west on 67street from CPW to the movie theater which is almost at Columbus.Memories---stories from the last sixty years---the area now seems full of wealth, but what was it like in the late sixties when I first moved to the upper west side. Brownstones that could be drug dens. Other brownstones with three separate rooms on a floor and one bathroom shared by each of the rooms. I knew several people who lived that way; if you were young--in your twenties or early thirties and were not sure where you were going, it was normal. Now, they are simply "stately" brownstones.  Both 68 and 67 street contain many large houses that must have been pre war--especially on 67 street, I had never known that they were there---who lived there in the sixties? Must have been a middle class, professional population. The side streets, as I have just mentioned, could be dangerous. Yet these are beautifully designed apartment house---of course, now they are all probably coops. Oh, and yes, the many welfare hotels that stood off the avenues--a very different world,  yet one could travel on it, as I did in the mid and late sixties without any real fear. But the energy was more "rough hewn"---one had to be careful. And a  huge gulf still existed between the upper west side, and the upper east, across the park. Any one looking for stability or whose goal was to :move up" in the world, would not be caught on the upper west side--the change, as I saw it, came in the late seventies, but that is another story.

After the movie, went for some pizza ---did not like the nearest one on 68th off Columbus---a little grimy---so I wandered north on Columbus to 74th street. Amazed at what I saw---restuarant after restaurant lining  Columbus. and a few on the side streets as well. How many? Could easily be close to twenty---all about the same prices---I would think 40 or 50 dollars per person is the norm--and, most of them pretty filled up. This is what the neighborhood has become--many young couples walking the streets---some smiled at me---a nice energy--I really wanted to be part of it---enjoy it. But my financial fortunes would not allow me to enter any of those places---and since the pandemic I am not sure how comfortable I would feel in them. Things are so different now--pre pandemic there were bartenders who knew and liked me---who would let me "hang" even if I did not order much--lots of good conversation and a feeling of welcome---but I don't have that now. Bar prices are much higher---the medication that I take for my on going illness  prevents me from ordering a beer---and those more friendly places in Brooklyn are much harder for me to get to now, as my stamina levels are very different. . And I have not found any place in the immediate neighborhood that I can consider a hangout. So I remain, "separate".

Already nine o clock---should get back to my reading---tomorrow seeing McCraney's play, The Brother Size, at the Shed in Hudson Yards. My first visit there---will go early and try to get a sense of the place--will report soon.