Stairwalker

In 1965 I happened to peak into the trash can near the faculty mail boxes at Haverford.   I saw some writing about a proposed junior year abroad option.   I was frustrated by not being allowed by the music department to compete to play a piano concerto with the college orchestra and thought...why not junior year in NYC going to music school.   Long and short of it I ended up attending Mannes College of Music for the winter semester.

I moved to NYC into the apartment of a Haverfordian, Lance Jackson, who had taken a break from school.   The apartment was on Thompson Street in the"village."   If 5th Avenue continued south through or past Washington Square Park, it would be Thompson Street.   We were right next to a huge Catholic Church that served Little Italy to the south.  (I remember the hard little rolls from the neighborhood Italian bakery that were not sweet and buttery, but spicy with a lot of pepper and other spices I couldn't identify.)

So the apartment was on the 7th floor with no elevator.   That tenement was built during the early 20th c influx of immigrants.   It was never legal.   Buildings were only allowed to go 6 floors without elevators.  I wonder what payola got it built.    Here's the thing.....living on the seventh floor does a lot of things for you:
1. strong climbing legs
2. Small frequent trips for groceries (no 3 baggers)
3.Learn not to forget things....don't go back upstairs for a pencil.

On the first floor was an Italian social club.....all men in black and grey smoking and playing cards all day.  When you see these ethnic male social clubs, do you ever wonder what their wives are doing while they're chillin'   Working? cooking? doing their own social thing?

Most NYC tenements have 4 apartments per floor.   You probably have one room at the front (or back) of the building with decent windows.   If there's another tenement next to you the other rooms just have windows into a narrow air space where each tenement sets back a bit from the next building.   Most of the rooms just abutt to the next building.

Well I though Lance was pretty cool because he filled one of these windows with laying on their side colored beer bottles.   I thought it was coole partly because it was actually attractive like stained glass, a clever idea, and I kind of admired him for drinking beer (or anything elsse.)  I was still at a stage where alcohol (and coffee) "tasted bad."   Not very cool

Lance owned a maroon Norton motorcycle. I think it was 750cc.  Yes he was very cool.   I remember he let me try it out on Thompson Street.   It was pretty heavy, but fun.....a big powerful beast.   I won't own a motorcycle today because I have too many other obsessive interest/hobbies, and motorcycles would just add to that picture, and be dangerous to boot.    But sometimes I think.....well what about just one old timer....maybe a British bike like a Norton, Triumph, or BSA,   or maybe an old BMW with crankshaft (instead of chain) and cool looking opposed cylinders.    HMMMMM?

Well of course I needed a piano in my apartment.   So can you imagine that two guys hauled a rented piano up all 7 flights of stairs.   I mean one moment their truck pulled in on the street.   I could hardly turn around before the were knocking on my door with the really big upright literally in hand.   They reminded me of the guys who delivered coal in huge shoulder slung baskets to houses in Newark that didn't  have coal chutes.  They also reminded my of cartoon popeye.   They were not really big guys....maybe 5'8" or less.   And they weren't big chested either.   But their arms.....oh my!   They had arms like tree stumps! How much does an upright piano weight.   I'm guessing 500 pound plus.   Straight up the stairs they trucked.   Now I can't say they looked happy about the seven flights when they got there.  But they did it.   I hope I tipped them.

This is running on, so I'll save my other adventures...mostly with girls/women on that semester.   Oh yeah, I did learn a lot of piano.