so it's over.....

(the summer, that is)---I always see the Labor Day weekend as the end of my summer "break". So how am I feeling? Pretty good---this weekend is wide open for me, and that is the way I like it. Might just want to read, read, and read. But what? Am in 42nd street library now, looking for books. Just chose some essays by Jerome Charyn---I think a few are about growing up in what we now call the "south Bronx" , a neighborhood that sent students to both the schools that my father and mother taught in. Always important and stimulating for me to read about those neighborhoods when they were basically all Jewish. Let's see what he has to say.
  Looking for one more book----at home had some Elizabethan plays--I started the Duchess of Malfi yesterday, but don't know if they will sustain me. Anyway, one more book I hope.
  Last night---chose to see Fiddler, Miracle of Miracles at the Quad. Good choice---I enjoyed it, felt filled up by it, and knew most of the talking heads who recalled the original. That was in 1964--- my "horrible" year at Yale School of Drama. I actually saw the original Fiddler three times in its first year---with three different Tevya's (Mostel, Luther Adler and Paul Lipson) At that time I really worshiped it. Never will forget the first time that opening tableau in Tradition came at me. Nothing like it before---that was Robbins' genius. The documentary showed many scenes from other productions---most more recent---there seems to be know tv memories of the original or the 1976 revival which also starred Mostel. What was interesting was how much darker these productions were---was there different way of looking at Fiddler?  The original production---even with its ending of displacement still had a really buoyant feeling. The final talking heads of the movie stressed the sadness of the ending and linked it to what is happening today, Understand that, but are they pushing it too much. Anyway, it was interesting to see a few scenes from the most recent Broadway revival, which I did not see. Its different staging and in some cases line readings, surprised me--as did some scenes from the movie, which I also did not see. In any case, I wanted to share some of my memories of the original and some things that I remember about it that are not in the documentary. Will this happen---don't count on it, but it is a nice idea.
  So, wish me luck for the weekend--hope to get some good reading intake some amazing walks, and follow at least the first two Yankee-Oakland games this weekend. Speaking of walks, after the movie I walked from the Quad on 13th street to the Times Square Station before getting on the subway to go home. Why? My stomach was filled, so no place to stop in and have a beer, and I was restless. Seemed to be a good idea since I slept well last night (better than most nights) and am pretty rested today. Wish me luck!

what now, cityboy?

Thursday early afternoon. The long weekend---the end of summer---looms before me. Mucho choices but does one have any more meaning than another? Some interesting movies that are possible for tonight---Luce, Fidder, Stories We Tell, and a few others. And I had promised myself that this summer I would go to at least one minor league game---well tonight (or the next few days) is my chance, but will I do it? Heavy schlep on the Ferry to get to tonight's game in Staten Island. One thing is for sure---I will not stay home tonight. I stayed home yesterday night---very tired---but between now and Monday, I must be out!
  Not a lot else to report. I finished reading the most recent novel by Susan Choi, called Trust Exercise. It is written in three parts---the second and third much  more fulfilling than the first. The title refers to an exercise given by a high school theater teacher to his students---but also, as the novel progresses, to a trust between the reader and the narrator. The story in the part I is turned on its head in several ways. Sometimes very interesting, others kind of long. One quote from the book gets me:
It refers to a character who has remained in his home town while others have left. The quote is "he saw the past as a place he was exiled from". I immediately responded to that, it articulates how I felt in the first six or seven years after I left Hopkins. Trying to come to terms with the enormous amount of activity I had done as President of the Barnstormers while feeling cut off from the others who were still there, to a certain extent taking part in what I had created. Yes, that was a strange, transitional time for me---I think that last year at Hopkins prepared me well for what I did when I turned 40, but not so much for my twenties and early thirties. But could anything have prepared me for those years?
  Another trip to Brooklyn on the horizon, or even maybe one to the Bronx. A Yankee game? (Better get there early) Still have not taken the bus that begins on Eastern Parkway and Utica and goes east into Brownsville and East New York. What about the one that begins on Saratoga and Broadway, goes through Brownsville, and then merges and follows Kings Highway as it moves west into Flatbush? Took that once before, many years ago. These are all the options available to me.
Well, let's see what happens, will report tomorrow.

Wednesday morning at the library on

Amsterdam at 82nd street. Listened carefully to a report on WBAI that tries to shed some light on why J.E. was able to avoid attention during the time before the law caught up with him. Some very revealing information---look forward to learning more about it as the "normal" media catches up. Also it shed light on the enormous sums of money that corporations and organizations just have "around"--an almost bizarre amount helping nobody and making no contribution into the world at large. Yes, some of it goes into major contributions but a lot of it seems to simply "exist' in a strange, untouchable world. It is shocking to me that those who have made  a great amount of money due to the capitalist system arn't comitted to balancing the budget of the country that enabled them to do so. I certainly would if I had money.
  Yesterday, rested most of the day, started a novel by Susan Choi about two teen-age theater majors---it seems very false at this point. Will follow it  a little longer. Finally around 7, found enough strength to head to La Flaca where I had my usual blt and watched the Cub-Met game. Bartender Red and his girl friend, waitress Sam (Samantha) were very cordial and friendly. When I left, my energy was high--it was around 9:15, and I was not ready to go home. So I walked. West on Grand, then a little on Canal, then back to Grand, through China town, Little Italy, Soho and (I gues) Soho West. Interesting walk---well healed restaurants along the way (probably about 6 or 7)  were all packed, mostly with younger people. The city's restaurant economy seems to be thriving. Were many of the people tourists? Could be, a lot of selfies on the way. But a very interesting walk---finally grabbed a C at Canal (the entrance on Lispinard) an returned home.
  Today meeting my friend Tom for coffee a little later---he was just in the excellent park production of Coriolanus, so I am interested in hearing his take on this. After that....we will see. Am thinking about one of the next two days going to the Bronx Central Library--where Kingsbridge Road begins, right of Fordham Road. I like their selection of books, and may need some interesting ones to get me through the weekend (libraries closed all three days of the weekend) Labor day approaches, the 'beginning of the end" of summer.

here we are....

at the Lincoln Center Library Tuesday morning. A "quiet"day---can do what I wish to do. No plans. Why not? Yesterday, even though I was feeling tired from the intense exercise from the day before, I ventured to Brooklyn in the afternoon to participate in the 227 Duffield action, then the BAN meeting a few hours after. Not that hard----the protest was very well attended---I had a nice chat with a college student standing nearby---he was part of  a group that was going for interviews at Chase for summer 2020 interns. I explained to him the circumstances about the house with its underground rail road history, and he seemed very interested and committed to following the action on his computer. . A nice kid, he is a junior at U Penn--this was his first trip to New York. He was born and spent the first part of his life in Ghana. Anyway, that was meaningful. Had to leave in the middle of the action, because I was starving, but there were so many people at the action it did not matter.
  Found a grocery store that made me a small roast beef sandwich and then headed back to Manhattan for the meeting. Was able to participate for the first part of it---I brought up some interesting points, but as the meeting continued I got more and more tired. Left at the end and went straight home---something I don't like to do after the meeting, but quite frankly, I could hardly move. Actually got to sleep very quickly, and though I had two dreams---slept pretty well.
  Sort of enjoying doing "nothing"--maybe I will look at my movie choice for the afternoon or evening and make a decision. There is a very interesting movie playing at the Quad, the story of the making of the original Fiddler on the Roof. Want to see it, but feel like it is "comfort food" . Several other interesting movies around as well---theater that I am interested in does not begin until next week (with one exception). That is about the status of things now. So much time spent in Brooklyn this summer, should at least make one trip to the Bronx, but.....ambivalent. Anyway, the day continues and I will report soon.

the weekend....

Friday...a tired day---not much energy---stayed around the neighborhood---in the evening went to the first Lincoln Center Opera Outdoors film festival---the film was not an opera, but Funny Face with Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn and Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks---a funny sitcom from the fifties). Could not keep my attention---went back and rested.
Saturday---energy much higher--lots to do---a session at the library---then off to Crown Heights for the Crown Heights Tenants Union picnic, where I was to distribute some flyers for the march in September. Took the C train to Kingston Throop, and walked south to Brower Park, where the picnic was being held. Amazed by what I saw---some beautiful Brownstones all around the park---especially on Saint Marks between Kingston and Albany---who knew that they existed..? Others on Park Place even as the street approaches Nostrand Avenue. A great walk! Should (hopefully) return there soon. The rest of the day spent around the Gotham Center---had a salad and watched the Yankee-Dodger game. Thought that I might check out a movie at BAM or some other theater, but by 7 I was  pretty tired---it was time to return to the apartment in Manhattan---kind of an adventurous trip back on a couple of C trains---I had drank a lot of coffee and water at the Gotham and even though I made a bathroom trip before I left---felt a lot of pressure on the subway---very difficult. Finally left the C at Penn Station and hustled to the bathroom on the Amtrak level, much improved from the last time I visited. Then got back on the C, and just made it home.  Wow! Too much coffee and water---a devastating combination.
 Sunday---much more energy in the morning; I would realize how much during the day. Returned to Cobra Club in Bushwick to visit my friend bartender Olivia; that went well, but alas, the broken tv at Cobra was not fixed---so I could not watch the Met-Atlanta game as per usual. Not terribly sad, I was a little over saturated with baseball---still I left early and headed to the used bookstore Molasses to check on my friend Matt and Maggie (the owners) and their little boy Tuli. Found out that they were visiting in Canada, but will be back next week. From there, walked to Broadway and took the bus on Malcolm X to Fulton and the C train. Toyed with the idea of going further south on Utica, but figured this was for the best. Hung out at Gotham until the movie I was seeing at BAM---called Give Me Liberty was beginning at 4.
  The movie itself was a bizarre crazy quilt of events centered around a 25 year old van driver for disabled people. On this day, he gets himself into all kinds of trouble by shepherding around a bunch of elderly relatives of his to the cemetary of a recently deceased relative. Lots of craziness with many obnoxious people--particularly an opportunistic friend of the driver whom I found annoying and obnoxious. The movie then careeens into a riot in front of a police precinct---very dynamic event shifting by the creators of the movie. Hard to say what I felt about it, I was impressed with its vision and narrative which seemed to defy normalcy and go where ever it wanted to go---but the characters and situation were annoying to me. Still, it is a definantly original movie.
  It was still early after I left BAM, and after a short conversation with Simon, a former Friends student who is beginning social work school---so I did not want to just pack it in and return to Manhattan. It was then that I went on my longest walk, from BAN to Freddys, the "cool" bar on 17th and 5th Avenue. Tired a bit but determined to walk the 30 or so blocks from BAM to the bar. Once there I had a beer, and watched some baseball on tv. As "cool" as the place is, I never end up having conversations with anyone there. Should I have gone back to La Flaca and spent some time there instead? Not sure---Anyway, when I left, the body was still strong---still I opted for a bus that would take me back to the Gotham Center and finally the G to the C. Returned home in much better shape then Saturday.
  A pretty strong weekend---I felt good this morning---tonight the BAN meeting and a possible protest on Duffiled...will report soon.

finding my voice....

at around 4 I wondered if I was strong enough to get out to Bushwick and attend the anti-gentrification conference at the Starr bar, but despite a feeling of mini-fatigue, I found myself on the J heading out to Bushwick around 5---at Lafayette and Broadway, got on the DeKalb Avenue bus and arrived at the Starr Bar in plenty of time. All I could ask for at the bar was ice water, but the bartender was nice enough to give me a full glass--I needed it---yesterday's heat seemed almost inhuman at times.
  The conference was well attended; mostly white newcomers from the neighborhood who wanted to know what they could "do" to stop gentrification, understanding that their presence was part of it. Yes, they are caught in the crossfire of the whole issue, since areas like Park Slope and Boerum Hill, even Prospect Heights are far too expensive for most people. Several short films all with interviews of Bushwick natives who were able to remain are were forced to move by abusive landlords. By the end a terrible sense of a cold, exacting  machine riding rough shot over the neighborhoods, determined to make them (eventually) all white, or all upper class.
  Several activists spoke and gave out information about their groups. I entered the conversation (during the question and answer period) twice, the first time after a newcomer had asked what could she "do" to help. I reminded her and the others that about 15 minutes before one of the activist speakers had mentioned how her group was fighting gentrification. I was surprised she missed that--also a little annoyed---the second time was when the leader of a group was discussing what could be done but was not talking about the city council representatives of the area and the role they were playing in "protecting" the community. City Council reps (there are two in Bushwick) are torn between the money that the landlord lobby offers them and the pressure the activist groups put on them. Ideally, they should be rejecting the landlords completely. In my second comment I reminded the group that the new laws protecting tenants were made because several newly elected State Senate members were elected because they rejected landdlord money. The leader of the activist group picked up on that and so the conversation moved (I felt) to a more meaningful place. I guess what annoyed me, and why I felt such a strong need to speak was that the speakers, as well meaning as they were, did not realize that most of the white audience were in the dark re what the role of the City Council person was, or even about the meaning of the new rent laws and how they happened.
 So that is that. I did not hang around much after the conference broke---I was nervous about getting back to Manhattan on the L, and in the immediate aftermath, no one came up to me and started a conversation. The trip back to Manhattan was a bit of an adventure---yes the L arrived, but I got off it at Lorimer because I was starving (found a good pizza place nearbye) then I got on again at Union but when I saw the G to Queens was coming immediately I jumped on that--took it to the last stop--then switched to the 7 above it which also came quickly, and finally took the 1 at Times Square. Lots of switches, but amazingly enough, did not take that much time. A lot of exercise though---today my body is a bit racked--still getting in gear for the rest of the day.
 Which will be improvised---lots of interesting movies out there but nothing really drawing me in---will report soon.

much moved....

by reports on WNYC's The Takeaway about the brutally inhuman treatment given the children who have crossed the border and are being detained. What is one to do? Very sad. One can only hope that the courts or maybe even Congress will try to stop this horrible behavior. Not much else to say.
 Yesterday: a slow day---did not leave Manhattan (odd) did not even take the subway. For much of hte day I was fatigued. Finally, by around 7:30, some life seemed to come back to me, and I left the apartment. But where to go? At one point, thought that I might go to the bar-coffee place that is attached to the Quad cinema, but instead, opted for the coffee place on 2nd avenue between 81st and 82nd street. It is open until midnight (one of the few New York coffee places that does not turn into a bar that stays open)  which meant getting there around 9 would not make me feel isolated. And so that is what I did---taking the 79th street crosstown to 3rd avenue and walking the rest of the way. Always interesting to visit the upper east side, a world that once was so important to me (I dated a lot of women who lived in the area back in the seventies) but also just to chart the differences between the two sides. Of course, the upper east side is strangled by high rises, but strangely enough, the old tenements seem to stick out, demanding that their history be understood.
  Coffee place was open and lively---had my coffee and read the novel that I had just taken out of the library (a little pulpy) and enjoyed not being rushed. So much energy had returned to me that instead of simply going back to 79th and jumping on the bus, I walked north to 96th street---past the bars and restaurants and small apartment houses and pizza places (many) that line the street. Lots of people out, moving around. At 96th and third, walked a block north (remember when one would not dare to go any further than 96th) to look at the new high rises on the west side of the street. Of course, a NYCHA project sits on the other side. So what? It makes no difference how close a new luxury apartment is built to a NYCHA project, if you build it, "they" will come. The 96th street crosstown came pretty quickly, and soon I found myself on Broadway and 94th--it took about 20 minutes for a 104 to come, but I was in no hurry to get back (I now had new found strength)  and just watched while I waited patiently for the bus. That is all.
   Today, there is supposed to be a big anti gentrification meeting in Bushwick that begins at 6:30, and that is where I am planning to be. Should take up the whole evening---with the L running slowly, if at all, should be interesting to see what strategy I use to return to the city. DeKalb bus to the J, or just to downtown Brooklyn. We will see.