I
am still able to see past the ultra cool hipster glamour of Williamsburg’s
most recent incarnation straight into the ghost of my Williamsburg.
I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that food was just rice
and beans, coffee was straight up coffee and it came from the
deli, beer was served in plastic cups for safety reasons, going
out meant finding a party, going out-out meant hoping on the L
or the J and heading into the city and if you didn’t have
a subscription you could forget about getting your hands on a
copy of The New York Times, no matter how far you walked. Those
were the good old bad old days. They were more good than bad.
I was the poorest, happiest yuppie in all of New York and while
the anarchists were busy writing manifestoes full of mourning
for the end of a good thing, I was busy making memories that would
survive any changes that came my way.
In my Williamsburg, on a hot summer day (the kind that melts plastic
spoons left out on the counter in your kitchen) you could head
over to the always air-conditioned, gloriously crumbling Commodore
Theater, and for five dollars you could catch movies that were
on their way out of theaters and headed for the limbo between
big screen and video, although they somehow managed to show all
the latest Spike Lee Joints, right on time, faithfully. The floors
were sticky, and the walls were crumbling, but at this big, old
theater there was a stage, there were red, velvet curtains and
balconies and the screen was gigantic. Management politely looked
the other way when you brought in a six-pack and smoking was allowed.
In my Williamsburg getting some new clothes meant getting some
old clothes at Domseys, which was four floors of resale heaven.
Whether you were looking for the perfect camouflage pants or a
faux-fur jacket or old school Calvins or a vintage Gucci hand
bag with a little determination and about five dollars you could
find it at Domseys.
In my Williamsburg, if you had a bike (and of course you did),
some optimism and some friends, you could head out after dark,
follow the sound of music and find a roof party. |
