I Saw the Ruins at My Feet
*Disclaimer: If I see a comment pertaining to or regarding: sarcasm, cynicism, or "the world's smallest record player" (with appropriate gesture), then I'm gonna get Sicilian on ya. As only a quasi-New Yorker can.***
//////
"Joy....I have a feeling we won't pull it out this year.."
"Oh, I know. Just don't watch the game."
"No. I won't. I'm just gonna relax, spend some time with Mom, play the piano...it'll be fine."
There are some things that you come to expect. Then, there are those things that completely turn your world upside down.
For my parents, living in New York meant living in the Greatest City on Earth. We had it all. History, sophistication...
...and some of the greatest sports teams in America.
Then, in the late '70s, the city was in shambles. The crime rate was high, the Transit Authority AND the Sanitation Department went on strike at the same time, and the Son of Sam was killing people.
Yet, my mother told me that it didn't matter. You got used to inconveniences; it made you a tougher person. You became resilient, because you knew that you could never stay away.
You went on with your life--you took a bus. You walked 50+ blocks when the power went out. You waited in long lines, in the heat and the filth.
Why? Beacuse, for some reason, it would be too emotional to leave.
Neither me or my dad watched the game tonight. The Inevitable STILL happened. I am STILL in shock. I have to look around periodically, just in case the Apocalypse happens without my knowledge.
Apparently, this happened before. In 1980, we lost to the Royals. That started a 10-year period of, what many Sox fans would call, "life." We lost A LOT.
But, for some reason, New York City's spirit was not broken. The 1980s ushered in a "Golden Age" of sorts--Koch was mayor, and with him came prosperity, low crime, and even more pride than we had before.
Baseball did not run a New Yorker's life. People were more interested in Central Park, Broadway, and what was playing at the Met. Why? Because New York is the only place that can offer anyone great theater, tall buildings, traffic, congestion, yelling, screaming, excitement, bright lights, and independence--all in a 13-mile island.
My mother once told me that the only way to photograph New York is in black and white. Simple, a little rough around the edges, nostalgic, historic....and somber. Yet, you know, that beyond that picture, people go on with their lives.
Tonight, I am in mourning. Something I never thought would happen finally did.
And, to think, I wasn't even watching.
R.I.P, New York Yankees--1919-2004.
////
"I’ve seen the lights go out on broadway-
I saw the empire state laid low.
And life went on beyond the palisades,
They all bought bright cadillacs-
And left there long ago.
We held a concert out in brooklyn-
To watch the island bridges blow.
They turned our power down,
And drove us underground-
But we went right on with the show...
I’ve seen the lights go out on broadway-
I saw the ruins at my feet,
You know we almost didn’t notice it-
We’d see it all the time on forty-second street.
They burned the churches up in harlem-
Like in that spanish civil war-
The flames were everywhere,
But no one really cared-
It always burned up there before....
I saw the lights go out on broadway-
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
The boats were waiting at the battery,
The union went on strike-
They never sailed at all.
They sent a carrier out from norfolk-
And picked the yankees up for free.
They said that queens could stay,
They blew the bronx away-
And sank manhattan out to sea....
You know those lights were bright on broadway-
But that was so many years ago...
Before we all lived here in florida-
Before the mafia took over mexico.
There are not many who remember-
They say a handful still survive...
To tell the world about...
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive...."
//////
"Joy....I have a feeling we won't pull it out this year.."
"Oh, I know. Just don't watch the game."
"No. I won't. I'm just gonna relax, spend some time with Mom, play the piano...it'll be fine."
There are some things that you come to expect. Then, there are those things that completely turn your world upside down.
For my parents, living in New York meant living in the Greatest City on Earth. We had it all. History, sophistication...
...and some of the greatest sports teams in America.
Then, in the late '70s, the city was in shambles. The crime rate was high, the Transit Authority AND the Sanitation Department went on strike at the same time, and the Son of Sam was killing people.
Yet, my mother told me that it didn't matter. You got used to inconveniences; it made you a tougher person. You became resilient, because you knew that you could never stay away.
You went on with your life--you took a bus. You walked 50+ blocks when the power went out. You waited in long lines, in the heat and the filth.
Why? Beacuse, for some reason, it would be too emotional to leave.
Neither me or my dad watched the game tonight. The Inevitable STILL happened. I am STILL in shock. I have to look around periodically, just in case the Apocalypse happens without my knowledge.
Apparently, this happened before. In 1980, we lost to the Royals. That started a 10-year period of, what many Sox fans would call, "life." We lost A LOT.
But, for some reason, New York City's spirit was not broken. The 1980s ushered in a "Golden Age" of sorts--Koch was mayor, and with him came prosperity, low crime, and even more pride than we had before.
Baseball did not run a New Yorker's life. People were more interested in Central Park, Broadway, and what was playing at the Met. Why? Because New York is the only place that can offer anyone great theater, tall buildings, traffic, congestion, yelling, screaming, excitement, bright lights, and independence--all in a 13-mile island.
My mother once told me that the only way to photograph New York is in black and white. Simple, a little rough around the edges, nostalgic, historic....and somber. Yet, you know, that beyond that picture, people go on with their lives.
Tonight, I am in mourning. Something I never thought would happen finally did.
And, to think, I wasn't even watching.
R.I.P, New York Yankees--1919-2004.
////
"I’ve seen the lights go out on broadway-
I saw the empire state laid low.
And life went on beyond the palisades,
They all bought bright cadillacs-
And left there long ago.
We held a concert out in brooklyn-
To watch the island bridges blow.
They turned our power down,
And drove us underground-
But we went right on with the show...
I’ve seen the lights go out on broadway-
I saw the ruins at my feet,
You know we almost didn’t notice it-
We’d see it all the time on forty-second street.
They burned the churches up in harlem-
Like in that spanish civil war-
The flames were everywhere,
But no one really cared-
It always burned up there before....
I saw the lights go out on broadway-
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
The boats were waiting at the battery,
The union went on strike-
They never sailed at all.
They sent a carrier out from norfolk-
And picked the yankees up for free.
They said that queens could stay,
They blew the bronx away-
And sank manhattan out to sea....
You know those lights were bright on broadway-
But that was so many years ago...
Before we all lived here in florida-
Before the mafia took over mexico.
There are not many who remember-
They say a handful still survive...
To tell the world about...
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive...."