I always figured after college and stuff that was where I'd end up. But then I fell in love and bought a house in the Boston area and all that...
As my friend Arthur Hlavaty once said in his sporadic zine "Derogatory Reference," he is from New York and therefore at least 25% culturally Jewish, regardless of his actual bloodlines, and various other percentages I no longer recall well enough to quote.
I grew up in Yonkers, in a traditionally Irish neighborhood. The "new" immigrants had moved there in the early 1900s from Italy and Poland. When we introduced ourselves at the beginning of school, I was the only one who didn't have a one-word answer to where my family had come from. Other kids would say "Polish" or "Italian" or "Irish"; the answers were as obvious as their names and facial features. I'd smile and say "American"; then, if they'd let me, I'd go into the Italian, Irish, French-Belgian, Czech, and "not sure" bits (my maternal side peters out in Yonkers with my great-great-grandmother). Mostly, since three of my four grandparents immigrated (although one was only three years old), I considered myself a true American. And, yes, "The City" did feel like a cool aunt who was fun to visit. When I went off to college, I'd tell new friends that I came from a small city near NY, only to find out that my high school was larger than their "large city".
My well-worn mantra, for those I am not trying to screw with, is that I'm "Chinese-filipino Irish Welsh." They can't hear the hyphen in there, of course--and it's too complicated to explain that my father's parents were immigrants from China to the Philippines, making my father ethnically Chinese, but largely culturally filipino...
People like me that live within the outer boroughs [I live in Queens btw] will tell you that they will get funny looks from out of towners when you say to them that you are "going into the 'city'". The out-of-towner most always says something like "I thought you lived in NYC" or that "I thought we was in NYC".
Just a thought from someone that has lived and worked his whole life in NYC but did it in Queens.
I was just lucky my father worked at Beth Israel. He was a doing his surgical residency there at the time I was born. I might have ended up being from Buffalo or somewhere! :-P
I could swear that's the name of the place we went for dinner before the Lily Tomlin show when we all went to NYC together years ago with Jeanie and Ted.
Yeah, i really enjoy the city, and i have trouble getting P to go there, though really he says once a year would be ok. We should ask you for fun restaurants.
This place: ONO at the Hotel Gansvoort, I still really want to try again. We had a stunningly creative and delicious meal there, and also the most expensive cocktail we've ever had, too. It was made with the 100 year old Gran Marnier, I believe. The cocktail itself has wiped out the memories of its details (notebook! this is why I carry one into restaurants now!), but it was verrry yummy.
And on the second floor in the bathroom up there, they have one of those hilarious Japanese toilets that washes and dries your arse and perfumes it and I don't know what else... I didn't try *all* the buttons, just a few. The cocktail may have aided the hilarity.
Comments 20
and "New York" is totally an ethnicity, of American mixedness.
Reply
What you said!
Reply
As my friend Arthur Hlavaty once said in his sporadic zine "Derogatory Reference," he is from New York and therefore at least 25% culturally Jewish, regardless of his actual bloodlines, and various other percentages I no longer recall well enough to quote.
Reply
Reply
"From New York" is just much simpler!
Reply
People like me that live within the outer boroughs [I live in Queens btw] will tell you that they will get funny looks from out of towners when you say to them that you are "going into the 'city'". The out-of-towner most always says something like "I thought you lived in NYC" or that "I thought we was in NYC".
Just a thought from someone that has lived and worked his whole life in NYC but did it in Queens.
*hugs*
Reply
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
I was telling corwin about it last night and he couldn't remember either. I'm betting he'd recognize it if I took him there, though.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
And on the second floor in the bathroom up there, they have one of those hilarious Japanese toilets that washes and dries your arse and perfumes it and I don't know what else... I didn't try *all* the buttons, just a few. The cocktail may have aided the hilarity.
Reply
Leave a comment