Getting a roommate was a practical decision for my landlord—why not make some money out of the unused space? It was a perfect solution for me, too. I was new to NY and had no social life, so living with an elderly woman didn’t cramp my style.
We moved into the apartment in early June of what was one of the hottest summer’s in New York history. And we didn’t have an air conditioner. When we had people over that summer, to take a break we’d walk across the street to the Food Emporium to stand in the frozen food aisle. After a visit from…
The mice, oh, those mice. They were true New Yorkers with a dry sense of humor, showing up at the most inopportune times. I lost more girlfriends that way.
Madonna’s story: “The tall buildings and the massive scale of New York took my breath away. I felt alive. But I was also freaked out by the smell of piss and vomit everywhere, especially in the entryway of my third-floor walk-up.”
At Greenwich Village’s Café Wha?, an endless list of young ’60s singers and comedians got early chances to hone their talents. Check out the interesting story of Manny Roth, the “Duke of Macdougal Street“ and impresario behind the club.
My first apartment was so small I had to step outside to change my mind. The year was 1968. The apartment was on Sullivan Street, just above Little Italy, with a live poultry market around the corner.
These were my wild NYU days and I had lots of romantic encounters. My interactions with men in my building, however, were not always so romantic.
I moved to NYC in 1987, and found my first apartment through an ad in The Village Voice—a third floor walk-up, 2 bedroom on the corner of Bleecker & Sullivan, in the heart of the Village. (I had to be told what the “village” was; I was from Michigan for god’s sake.)
A girl’s worst nightmare? “It was the early Seventies, maybe ’72. I was trying to get across town to a party. It was two or three o’clock in the morning and I was staggering around on huge platform shoes….”
‘This car kept circling around and some guy was offering me a ride. I kept refusing, but finally I took the ride because I couldn’t get a cab.”
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