Maggie's Farm

Beginning with an overnight class trip to NYC in 8th grade, I have long enjoyed just walking the streets of NYC. No need to see a specific tourist site. Just walk and enjoy. You never know what you are going to see on the streets of NYC.

My freshman year roommate, from the upper west side of Manhattan, told me that he had seen Richard Nixon walking the streets in NYC, during the time he was an attorney there in the mid-60s.

My uncle told me that one day he saw RFK and LBJ in a limo outside Grand Central Station. LBJ was wagging his finger in RFK's face. No surprise there: it was common knowledge that the two despised the other.

Several years ago, some blog commenter directed me to a YouTube video of a song. The pictures, in black and white, were of a city at night. One of the pictures reminded me of the 34th Street Armory, which I would have encountered in walking up to Grand Central Station on my way out of the city. In an Internet search, I found out that I was off by a block: the Armory was at 33rd Street. What was even more surprising was that it had gotten torn down in 1971. Which means that was a OLD memory.

Such is progress. A beautiful building torn down for a soulless skyscraper.

The Lost 71st Regiment Armory -- Park Avenue and 33rd Street