Chronicles Continued

My attorney friend KMcG has a great habit of listening as she navigates her daily life on the streets of the City. On election day at 10 am in she heard a man, walking behind her speaking into his cell phone say: If Obama wins, we’re f@#kd. After lunch walking on another street, she overheard a conversation with a man on his phone and his comment was: If Romney wins we’re f@#kd. She thought it was funny to hear the exact same remark in two different contexts.
But her favorite is the day a young man offered a lady a seat on the subway. ‘No thanks,” said the lady, ‘I’m not pregnant, just fat.’

Wondered who was using these old phone booths. This afternoon I saw a young woman standing in one talking but I saw she had earbuds, so realized she wasn’t using the phone, she was standing under the roof to be out of the rain!!

 

A string of translucent wire, that goes around the island of Manhattan. An actual piece of fishing-wire-like-wire that is physically in place encapsulating the City. This is truth, and it is called an Eruv. I first heard about it, when a friend noticed a man outside the window of his apartment, fiddling with such a piece of wire. He asked him what the h@$# was he doing stringing that up. He was directed to the Rabbinical person sitting in a car below. And he learned the following story. It is a boundary that turns a large area, like the City into a ‘home boundary’. On the Sabbath, Jews are not allowed to carry objects outside the home; that is work. But if the boundary of the ‘home’ is extended, then there is no ‘outside’ This is a rabbinically approved stratagem. It began in the City apparently in 1994 and now covers side to side and north from 126th to the south to Houston street. Clever huh. It is inspected weekly by a Rabbi to make certain there are no breaks and winds over lampposts and buildings and wherever necessary.

Last night this was in the sky and it took 24 hours to find out what it is.  If you google ‘Global Rainbow, by Yvette Mattern’ more information is available.  The light beams fan out from the roof of the Standard Hotel in Chelsea, toward the areas hardest hit by Sandy. ‘To remind all that regardless of divisions of race, religion and culture, we are all in this together.’  It is a beautiful, inspiring sight in the clear night sky.  From 8 pm to 2 pm for the next two nights.  Don’t miss it.

the “if you can’t get to JFK on the subway then we have bigger problems” story? I was approaching a young woman speaking with a MTA worker in a florescent vest at the 14th Street station this evening. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘You take the train North to get to FarRockaway.’ “Are you sure?’ she queried. ‘Yes, you want to go Uptown,’ he said. And he pulled in another small MTA worker in a florescent vest, who agreed with him. I was almost passed them, when she looked me right in the eyes, and said, ‘Can you tell me, do I go Uptown to get to FarRockway?’ ‘Yes,’ said the 1st little man, with the assent given by his buddy co-worker. ‘No’, I said, ‘You have to go Downtown, toward Brooklyn, because the train, first goes Downtown, then all the way through Brooklyn and then to Queens in the North. ‘No, no’, my two bobbing heads are saying. ‘Look,’ I said, ‘If she were going to the JFK Airport, she would take the A train to FarRockaway, and that would be a Brooklyn bound train, because it goes to Downtown and then through Brooklyn….’ and before I could finish, the two of them were saying, ‘Yes, yes! Downtown! Yes!’, and they walked away happily. As she said thank you and turned to go, I called after her, ‘Remember, there are… and before I could finish, she called back, ‘Two A trains and I have to get on the one that says FarRockaway.’ Oh, to be in the know.

Spam filter a total success. Returned to no spam, not a one on the site, what a good thing.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – didn’t see it. Crowds of folks milling about Times Square all weekend, missed it. Wednesday, prior to Thanksgiving, saw six hours of theatre and then left town. A couple of hundred miles north of the City can be soooo far away. One sees the night sky in all it’s stunning glory. The quiet. The space. The non-man-made surroundings. The dirt. The weather: which was snow. The don’t-do-anything-you-normally-do-in-a-day-schedule. The spending time with others with whom you don’t usually share space. Scrabble. Dancing. Talks. No cell service. Trusting your Turkey &  Give Thanks Days were as successful.

BB installed a spam filter. Today, not a one!! Welcome to the other side of the internet-coin.

The New Yorker Magazine cover of 19 November. ‘Rhapsody in Blue” by Mark Ulriksen, illustrates my sense of depression on the city.

A sort of gloom and unsettled feeling in the City as I an experiencing it. Perhaps it is because one never knows when one will run into a friend or acquaintance who is still keenly and deeply influenced in their daily life by the storm’s aftermath. The Thanksgiving holiday is approaching, but so many families are still in great need. They are without their homes, and I have heard tell that insurance companies are not being gracious in rushing to reimburse those with water damage, explaining that they- the homeowners – should appeal to the Federal Government and the Water Damage Restoration Program they cover. [A bit vague on the name or department.]  Some localities have only this past weekend their power restored, and some others not yet.  Savings are being used to cover costs and those savings were perhaps for the holidays, food and presents.  It is an uncertain atmosphere.