So just how brave do you have to be to buy a one-way ticket to New York with only $300 in your pocket? Sometimes I overwhelmingly miss the enthustiastic innocence of those days. But there was nothing stopping me. My mom said I'd go off to New York over her dead body! Even though somehow 40 years later she's still with us.
I will never forget that day. January 21st 1974 ~ 11:45 am.
This must have been a really difficult picture for my mom to take...
Wow, that was a really big plane!
I swear there's nothing better than flying at 40,000 feet having absolutely no idea whatsoever what you're flying into...
My initial impressions of New York are pretty vague. Culture shock for sure. But somehow we made it from JFK to the East Side Bus Terminal and from there by cab to Doug's apartment at 542 East 14th St. where we were at once deposited. And so there we were, two young girls (with a whole lot of bags!) standing on a very empty sidewalk in the middle of a very blustery winter night. Thankfully it didn't take long too awfully long to discover this flimsy little note flapping wildly in the wind... taped just inside a darkened doorway.
I can't believe I still have it! Or that it even survived! *sigh*
Looking back... If I had the chance again, would I ever REALLY have dragged my two very heavy suitcases up those four flights of that very narrow, lopsided staircase? Yes probably. Most likely. You betcha!
It was at this point when Douglas most likely concluded that I hadn't brought along a suitable companion for his roommate Timothy... *g*
Fun Times
Popcorn!
Juggling!...
Ice Skating...
Practicing good hygiene...
The Met!
I should probably just dedicate another blog to all the rest of the fun times...
The Apartment Hunt from Hell
Let's see, when I'd left LA the going rate for a really nice 2 bedroom apartment ran for about $150 a month, so that's where we thought we'd start. What a shocker! The first place we looked at for $150 included a single room with unfinished walls, a bathtub in the kitchen with a plank you could drag on top of it to double as a dining table. Plus, I don't think there was any electricity... It didn't get much better at $175 or even $200. We searched for days!... and made the acquaintances of ton of cockroaches in the meantime. At one point, one day, we took a break to see "The Excorcist" which was a much less frightening experience than our apartment search was proving to be.
But then on that very day, from an ad in the New York Times, we got wind of a decent sounding vacancy on West 72nd St. for $225. So we forged a snow storm through Central Park to go take a look at it, stopping only long enough to snap a couple of pics...
And it was perfect! Or at least the entry and lobby seemed respectable. A one bedroom, and with only a random smattering of cockroaches that we could detect.
Here's me on one of our first nights there. Our bedroom consisted of two foam mattresses and a very ecletic collection of random artwork. But it was home!
The (dang) Job
Luckily LeeAnn's aunt (who lived in Queens) worked in the credit department at Bond's Department Store on 5th Avenue and 35th St. So we had a connection! And so then suddenly there we were. Each making about $70 a week (without any benefits.) But who cared? We were living in New York City! I'll never forget trudging up to the subway at 72nd Street (in the snow) every morning, taking the train downtown, changing at Times Square and then on down to 34th. As crazy as it sounds those travels to work then were some of the most thrilling experiences of my life. Especially later, when I was able to ride above ground and actually see the city each morning. But more about that later.
Here's a photo of the main Bond's store in Time Square. The office we worked in was the "operations" center located above a smaller store at 35th and 5th.
As I recall, the clothes were really pretty tacky, though I think I did buy one dress there once. By the way, and this is sort of odd, but we were allowed to wear pants to work. (It seems funny to me now given that 15 years at another job much later we were still required to wear skirts.) And another thing was that we worked the traditional Nine to Five (like the movie)... where we were actually paid for our lunch hours (as little as that probably equated to) but still... I STILL believe that totally makes sense.
I don't even remember exactly what it was that I did but I think it had something to do with matching up price tags with daily receipts and then reconcilling the differences.
Though I think I probably spent most of my time typing letters to Doug... (who seemed to be forever out of town with his dance company tour.)
Backing Out On A Promise or "Haha, I Was Just Kidding"...
So it must have been some time around the end of February when Lee approached me and announced that she was going home. She assured me that it had to do with the fact that I'd left her alone one too many times in that crappy apartment, and I'll admit that I probably did step out for an evening or two with Doug on few nights he was home. Or perhaps it was just her disillusionment... At any rate she blamed me totally for the fail. And so there I was with a $225 a month apartment lease in New York City with no phone (except for maybe the payphone down at the end of the block, but no change) and so, basically, I was pretty much alone.
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