For the past two and a half years, this has been my newsstand. It’s on the corner of Whitehall and Water streets and from it you can see the 1/9/4/5 line projects, the Starbucks and NY Sports Club and the Au Bon Pain. I’m pretty sure that if the windows could open I’d be able to see it from the conference room.
I don’t know if this is an “I took this for granted” moment. It’s true I never really thought about it much.
Sure, occasionally, I thought, “This job must suck in the Winter,” or “My, what a nice selection of mints,” or “’Classy’ magazines in the front, booty magazines on the side –the American Way.” But it never occurred to be until this article that this wasn’t just a job for the Newstand man.
I don’t know if this is an “I took this for granted” moment. It’s true I never really thought about it much.
Sure, occasionally, I thought, “This job must suck in the Winter,” or “My, what a nice selection of mints,” or “’Classy’ magazines in the front, booty magazines on the side –the American Way.” But it never occurred to be until this article that this wasn’t just a job for the Newstand man.
This was his business. He owned the stand (until recently) that I passed nearly each and everyday. He knew this street. He knew the predilections of his regular customers. He was there when the plan for the 1/9/4/5 project was merely dream. He remembered when the office workers used to use the payphone for actual calls as opposed to standing near it while chatting or texting on their Blackberries. His little red establishment is an important part of the tapestry of The City.
What makes me sad is that I this realization has only now come to me, just as The City’s PowersThatBe decide to take it away.
What makes me sad is that I this realization has only now come to me, just as The City’s PowersThatBe decide to take it away.
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