June 28, 1994 - New York

Pleasantly cool today. Or perhaps I should say pleasantly warm. Anyway, it was comfortable.
Went over to Madison Square Garden and stood in line for tickets for the Behind-the-Scenes Tour, but it turned out they weren't having any tours today, because Barbra Streisand is appearing.
We rode the subway up to 168th Street, where Roy lived as a boy, and walked around the neighborhood, but he didn't recognize much. He couldn't remember the addresses of the apartment houses where he lived, but he thought he recognized the buildings. All the streetcars are gone, which makes the streets look very different. It's a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood now.
We ate lunch at a crowded, noisy McDonald's. (Manhattan seems to have a McDonald's on nearly every corner.) Then we rode the bus a few blocks to where I used to live. There it was--605 West 137th Street, looking almost exactly the way it did when I was six years old. I was very pleased to see that the building was still in such good condition; I had been afraid it would be a rundown dump by now. The elevator attendant is gone, but the old elevator is still there. I even recognized the old tile floor!
We strolled down to Riverside Drive, where Daddy used to take me for walks. Actually, I rode my tricycle and he walked. They've put in a lot of fill, so the Hudson is much farther from the Drive now. They've even built a nice park and playground on the roof of a large building overlooking the river.
Saw an ad for a newspaper that proclaimed, "Truth, Justice, and the Comics."
We took the subway to the United Nations Plaza and went on the guided tour. We even went in the General Assembly room, but the assembly wasn't in session.
For several years, I've been wondering what happened to my former sister-in-law, Billie Jean Tulchin. The last Christmas card I sent her was returned, marked "Moved--No Forwarding Address". The lower level of the UN building had public telephones and, more importantly, telephone directories. Most public phones no longer have directories. Several Tulchins were listed, so I phoned one at random and by luck got Billie's daughter, Jamie (212)490-5717. She seemed pleased to hear from me, even though there hadn't been any contact between us for twenty years or more. She told me Billie died six years ago and Jessie Rae died two years ago. Jessie's daughter, Becky, is a computer consultant in San Diego and is about to get married, which is good news, because when Jessie was alive, she wouldn't let Becky marry or even date. Jamie runs a talent agency. Her sister Beth now calls herself Ava and has her own television production company. Ava no longer plays the harp professionally. Their father, Hal Tulchin, is still working as a TV producer. It was interesting finding out about that branch of the family. Jamie gave me Ava's phone number, but I didn't get around to calling her.
We still had a few hours of daylight left, so we decided to ride the Staten Island Ferry. Neither of us had been on it before. The ride cost a nickel when we were kids. We were amazed to discover it's now only fifty cents round trip! The ride took about half an hour. Had a great view of the harbor. When we got to Staten Island, we decided to go for a bus ride. Rode for twenty miles or more, all the way to the southern tip of the island. We were way out in the country, with dense woods around us. Sure didn't look like New York City. We got off the bus at the end of the line in the little village of Tottenville. Bought ice cream bars so we'd have change for the ride back. Buses in New York City don't accept dollar bills, which is strange. We rode a different bus back, so we could see some different scenery. It was dark by the time we got to the ferry terminal and nearly eleven when we finally reached the boat.