The One Train and Sloatsburg

On a Wednesday, Genya and I went to the restaurant Somovar: for me after work, for her between patients.

A week ago, on Friday, I took the subway to Kostya’s place. A person was standing, muttering. This is not unusual for New York, at least as far as I have seen it, I was almost surprised that it made people nervous. One eyebrow was plastered over (stitched up?).  She (looked like a he, but she) kept muttering, getting more and more agitated. There was an advertisement on the wall across from me that said “SCHIZOPHRENIA” recruiting people for a new antipsychotic trial. Finally, yelling angrily, she punched the lady sitting next to her.  One man called the police and started berating her, saying that “Lady, you’re going to jail, have fun”.  The doors opened and she slipped off, looking terrified, grabbing her big black trash bags. The police man was more considerate, trying not to scare her away. She stayed in the neighboring wagon and we waited for the police to come. Somehow I don’t think that’s what Woody Allan was thinking about when he wrote the introduction to Manhattan.

Eventually, after being held up in the subway for a while and listening to people gossip, I got to Kostya’s place. His friend Simon was down from Montreal, and the three of us went out; first to eat, then to drink Brooklyn lager at The Thirsty Scholar. We wandered around and went to a second place, called Anyway Café, which turned out to be Russian owned and run, and which had live music and a nice atmosphere. They lit two of the three drinks on fire; the absinth, and the Valentina Tereshkova (which also had absinth in it). Then we went to a Bulgarian club called Mehanata- the music alternated between Indian/Turkish, Russian and Latino, so it was great for actual dancing, and people to dance with.
The next day we spent walking around the island and eating in Chinatown before heading to Sasha’s birthday party. Russians, drinking, music and watching the sky as it brightened into morning.

The next morning I got driven back to Manhattan, NoizeMC was playing in the car and Katya talked about a trance rave she had gone to by a bridge as we drove by it -- where the traffic had drowned out the music to the outside world, and where they had paid the hoboes to stand guard for the police. Once we got there Vova and I walked 90 or so blocks, eating frozen yogurt.

On the subway back from hanging out with Kostya and Simon that evening, the subway was under construction and I noticed that another girl was looking for the same one train on the express track as I was. She’s from Wisconsin and lives at the same stop as I do and gave me her number in case I need anything. In a city full of people, I met a person.