Manhattan Snippets

Friday night I took the subway out to Hoboken to see Graham Parker. Washington Avenue in Hoboken has a 12-blocks long section of beautiful old fixed-up buildings and shops and restaurants. Graham was good, an old rocker with integrity, backed by the Figgs, a cool band whose members are half his age… There are a bunch of old beatnik cafes in the Bleeker/McDougal area south of Washington Square that have been there forever. Cafe Figaro has turned phony and touristy, Cafe Dante looks OK, but best vibes for my sensibilities is Cafe Reggio, in a unique room looking like it’s out of the 1800s, a place for cappuccino and sitting and reading or writing…Billboard showing big SUV splashing up out of a creek, kayak on roof: “The New Nissan Exterra 265 hp!” America fiddles while planet warms…People sitting on wide steps of big midtown post office at midnight, which has carved in stone at its portals: “Neither now nor rain nor gloom of night stays these couriers from their appointed rounds.”…Monday, my last day in town, I take my scooter out and cruise uptown. It’s hot and humid and I sightsee, then sit a while on a park bench in the shade, then back to hotel and get gypsy cab to JFK. It’s been a good trip.