MY SOON TO BE NEW HOUSE

     As soon as I have enough "likes" on my recent facebook post, I will become the owner of my nephew Adam (and family)'s old house, the one they are leaving for a recently purchased larger one for their growing household. The post explains all about our tradition of giving me the things that Adam grows out of, so it's pretty certain to happen.

     Sadly, however, the outgrown house is in New Jersey so, of course, I could never actually live there. And by "there" I mean not in New York City. And by "not in New York City" I mean Manhattan. I'm a New Yorker. I can't imagine, wouldn't want to imagine, living anywhere else. So my upcoming house in New Jersey, WAY at the other end of the George Washington Bridge, will never, actually, be my residence.

     Having so quickly gained (almost certainly) my new home and then having to, just as fast, come to terms with its unsuitability has put me, naturally, in a reflective mood. It has me reflecting on the first home I did live in. Much smaller and far more crowded than Adam's, but, happily on the correct side of the GW in the most wonderful neighborhood EVER in the world.

     I grew up on the Lower East Side in apartment 6E in 504 East 5th Street on the corner of Avenue A. Three rooms for the 5 of us. My parents slept on a sofa that opened up in the living room. My sisters Lysie and Diane (Annie wasn't invented yet) and I shared the bedroom. Not that we were that competitive or anything but I took pride in the fact that, night after night, both my sisters fell asleep before I did...I could see that they had dozed off and I hadn't!!

     I also took pride in the fact that we lived on the 6th floor and the surrounding buildings that we could see from our living room window only had 4. I remember looking at them with my dad one stormy Winter night as he pointed out that we could see the snow on their roofs but they couldn't see it on ours. WE were in the bigger, more superior, structure!

     The apartment never seemed cramped to me; I thought it was normal to live in such close proximity. I think that did foster competition...especially true when we had just 1 television set. In the afternoon after school Lysie always wanted to watch Roy Rogers while I wanted Popeye The Sailor. We were supposed to share but I'm pretty sure she got to watch what she wanted most of the time. Though no doubt my show was much better. We made up all sorts of versions of baseball, football and hockey and only caused serious damage to the house once when I threw a rolled up pair of sweat socks through the glass of the bedroom window. But that was after we'd moved to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn (oh my gosh, we moved to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn? From the Lower East Side? WHY??) so it really doesn't belong in this tale. Still, it does give an idea of the intensity with which we played.

     Lysie is a little younger than me but was always a little taller than me, pretty strong and a very good athlete so that's probably why I've always thought it crazy (and dangerous!) to minimize what a girl or woman could do. I can't really say who won the majority of our household sporting events, though there is one thing I can say for sure...it wasn't Diane, the youngest in our family till Annie came along and made her a dreaded middle.

     But my point is that Diane kind of suffered in our limited space. One game we liked, football, involved gently tossing a football to Diane at one end of our narrow bedroom. She was required to run to the dresser, but, sadly for her, both Lysie and I stood in front of the dresser, waiting to stop her. Without many options she generally plowed straight forward till one or, more likely, both of us made the tackle. In fairness, she had 4 chances to make it to the dresser and only had to succeed once.

     She pretty much never did.

     We also played hide and seek. With, again, few places in which to hide, our father, being creative, hoisted Di up and lay her on top of the open bedroom door, her midsection resting on top with her legs and lower body dangled on 1 side and her head and upper torso on the other. What an irresponsible thing for our dad to do! I mean, it was SO easy to spot her up there!

     We also had linoleum on the floor in the foyer and hallway. I loved it...it was such a great surface to slide on, particularly when wearing your socks. Perfect for hockey games. The bedroom and living room both had wooden floors...great for rolling coins on...I used them to make up a terrific football game. This is where I learned that rugs and carpets are NO GOOD. Create way too much friction. Floors that you can roll and slide on...WAY more fun!!

     You may think there was little or no privacy in my first home. Well, first of all, I learned that privacy was not the natural order of things so it wasn't that important. And when I did want privacy I could find it...in the kitchen, at night, after dinner. I'd go in there, close the door, sometimes even turn out the light and...turn on the radio to listen to the Ranger hockey game or the Knicks basketball game. Baseball, of course, was always second nature to me. I can't remember a time when I didn't watch, play and love baseball. But basketball and hockey was more an acquired taste. And I acquired it listening to those Knick and Ranger games on the kitchen radio, at once by myself while with my good friend the announcer talking to me and thousands of loud, noisy fans as well.

     And in those wonderful broadcasts in the mid and late '50s and early '60s I learned something very important:

     My teams SUCKED! There were hardly any teams in the NBA (8) and NHL (6) at that time, the majority, therefore, made the playoffs, and my teams almost never did! They certainly didn't win any championships. I had learned to root for losers! I had learned how to have my heart broken, season after season, and still root for and care about those damn miserable teams!

     Maybe I should never have gone into that kitchen. But I still remember it as my own private world filled with stuff that I loved.

     And that's pretty much how I remember Apartment 6E...filled with all sorts of things and people that I loved!!