We just returned from Rochester and a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. We played it safe and drove back on Saturday, bypassing the terrible traffic. We hedged our bets further by crossing to Brooklyn via Staten Island and skipping the GW Bridge, the FDR and the Brooklyn Bridge. All in all, we shaved about 3 hours off of our trip, even with the $20 in additional tolls.
Our quiet commute is a reflection of some aspects of the City right now. The Writer's Strike has cancelled many television productions and the Stagehand's Strike has quieted the normally noisy Times Square. Last Saturday I was walking around 42nd and I had to call Kitty. "You won't believe it. It's absolutely dead here!" I get the eye from the tourists around me. They think I'm vaguely insane. "I mean, yeah... there are a lot of people, but for the most part, I'm walking along the sidewalks unimpeded! It's a genuine pleasure to walk around here!" Kitty still hasn't experienced this quiet side of the Theater District. I'll be dragging her there this coming weekend to experience this new "kinder, gentler" Times Square.
Back in 1998, I once found myself getting home from a rehearsal at about 9 p.m. on a Sunday night. I was walking to Times Square, it was pitch black and there was a torrential downpour. In that case, the streets were completely empty. No cabs were moving and even the lights of the Square had been dulled by the dark and the rain. I was entirely alone on the sidewalks and I was drenched to the bone as I ran towards the train station. Water sluiced the sidewalks and at times I was up to my ankles as I ran through the ghost town.
Thinking about the water running down the sidewalks, I'm reminded of the strikes that are going on right now. Talent seems to move away from these core areas and disperse around the city, bubbling up in the farther neighborhoods.
On Sunday night, we attended the ASSSSCAT 3000 show at The Upright Citizen's Brigade. It's an comedy improv show based on audience ideas athat has a name that is truly awesome to say and spell. For $8.90 each, Kitty and I saw Amy Poehler hosting with celebrity guests from Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. That is one of the greatest joys of living in the city: When something goes colossally wrong (like strikes or rain or traffic), you can find adventures and an experiences unlike any other as you float around the city on the tide.
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