Transit Strike!

GGP: 21st Dec 2005 - 19:49 GMT

hey, been waiting for you to weigh in on the strike, Peter. good views and some great bridge shots. bummer about the flat.

Catherine Penfold-Waxman: 21st Dec 2005 - 20:12 GMT

I second that emotion. I knew Peter would document the strike! Good man.
I set out with every intention of walking to 55th and 3rd from Astoria with two of my neighbors. We got about two blocks and a yellow cab stopped for us. Capitalist, lazy (cold) bastard that I am I begged the others to get in. So we had a long and lovely commute into the city.

Peter: 21st Dec 2005 - 20:32 GMT

heh... i stayed home yesterday, but went in today because i had a dr's appointment, and as it was right across the street from my office, i decided, why not...

ill snap more photos on the way home and on the way in tomorrow, if the strike persists...

jack: 21st Dec 2005 - 23:36 GMT

peter i hope all is fine with you. i remember the strike in 1965. i was home on leave and i had to drive to take the staten island ferry from brooklyn and then the ferry to manhattan. i worked on cedar street and washington street.

joey: 22nd Dec 2005 - 05:51 GMT

now's the time to stay at home and make babies - right? or was that what happened during the 1965 black out? whatever.

kc: 22nd Dec 2005 - 14:10 GMT

In 1980 I think women started wearing sneakers to work instead of heels...and maybe joey's right...stopped into my local liquor store yesterday, and they said day one of the strike had been incredibly busy, they could hardly keep up--everyone stayed home to drink...

jack: 22nd Dec 2005 - 16:43 GMT

okay here are the facts: 1=the strike started jan. 1, 1965. mayor john lindsay was arrogant and wanted to break the powerful union boss then. but both were arrogant and wanted to be the boss so the people of new york had to suffer. i believe it lasted for quite a few days, perhaps 11 or 13. the union won out and they got what they wanted and the people suffered for it and then the cost of travelling on the subway went from 15 cents to 25 and started to go up every six months, (it felt like it). then in aug or sept there was a power failure in the city. yep, the blackout! i was standing on the corner of church and cedar streets and with my flashlight, which i retreived from my car, i began to direct traffic with the approval of a police officer. man! 1965, i was home and i was 23. i was strong and i could have been a double for rock hudson, at least that is what the girls told me, and i really enjoyed being alive because i accepted life at all its cruelest dealings. i did not have a family to worry about. i was a free wheeling dude in the prime of his batchelorhood. i went to the copa twice a month to see peggy lee and other singers. i travelled in the circles with some of the roughest guys from brooklyn's avenue u. and little did i know that lurking within three miles of me in the greatest city in the world, a young girl, just graduated from high school, was about to descend upon me like a tornado.

Peter: 23rd Dec 2005 - 15:43 GMT

thats fascinating, jack. id love to hear more of this story...

jack: 23rd Dec 2005 - 23:43 GMT

i worked with an older guy who new new york back in the early 20's and 30's and remembers joan crawford when she hung out at a bar in the city. well he told me to talk to the doorman at the copa, i'll name him augie, and to mention his name to him. so i went there with my friend tom, we saw augie at the door and i mentioned my friends name. augie treated me like i was a mob boss. i slipped him $10 and he sent me to see manny. i slipped manny $10 and he put a table on the floor for me and my friend. the copa girls came out and the rest is history.

GGP: 23rd Dec 2005 - 23:56 GMT

i love peggy lee! i have a peggy lee story...perhaps some day i will tell it here.

jack: 24th Dec 2005 - 14:00 GMT

i want to hear it, miss lee had the greatest voice with billie and ella. krall has that voice also.