York Ave. looking south from 83 St.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, I stayed put in NYC. I love when New York empties for a holiday. As a kid, instead of being sad because I was stuck “in the city,” I found good things that resulted from us not “getting out of town.” Dad didn’t own a car, our vacations were rare. Three of them. One week in Patchogue, one week somewhere in Putnam County and one week in Point Pleasant on the Jersey Shore. Dad stayed home for that one.
The best reason I was glad everyone left town and I was still there – me and whoever else got left behind could play in the streets freely. The cars vanished and give us double the space for touch football or whatever game we were playing. We even played a couple on York Avenue in between traffic light changes. Playing touch football on an avenue with that extra width made it feel like a real football field. Much better than the tight space touch games on the side streets were there were only five plays to call: button hooks, down and outs in between two parked cars, fake a button hook and go after the QB pumps, fake a down and out and go after QB pumps, and a fly. Another good reason to not go away, it made the neighborhood spooky like a good Twilight Zone episode. Early in the morning, walking around, no cars, no people, just birds, you felt like the only kid on earth.
Here are photos from York Avenue between 83rd Street and 84th Street, and York looking south from 83rd Street towards the 59th Street Bridge.the 300 block on 85th Street, 500 block on 84th St Street, and one sunset. A fine holiday weekend in The Twilight Zone for The Only Living Boy In New York.
Tonight, Friday July 11th @ 7pm, at Eric Vetter’s No Name & A Bag O’ Chips summer reading edition, I’m telling a story from my new book, “I Hate the Dallas Cowboys – tales of a scrappy New York boyhood,”
Thomas Pryor’s blog: Yorkville Stoops to Nuts
west side of York Ave. bet. 83 & 84 St.
300 block 85 St.
85 St.
500 block 84 St.
82 St. Sunset
