chapter four........
nobody out, bases loaded..... subway series in the making. it’s been at least 45 years since the last subway series. i was three years old living in a loft at Lafayette and Spring streets on the lower east side, not too far from St. Vincent’s hospital where i was born.


the time i spent at Yankee Stadium as a kid wasn’t so much for the games. Dad didn’t go in much for sports, am i still pissed he never took me to a game? of course not.


aunt rosalie’s brother Louie would take me. it was some kinda drop-off point for the gambling paraphernalia dad and some of his art student pals made for wiseguys running illegal gambling rooms. as a matter of fact, most of the Yankee games i saw were from the 161st Street subway platform for the #2 line. was there when Johnny D caught a Roger Maris homer and almost fell into an uncoming train! long story, lotsa beer......

mikeyJr. was the pick-up guy. son of Michael duNord, an oilpainter in the Village, mikeyJr wasn’t into art, he was into money.

marked cards, fixed dice, rigged roulette wheels, counterfeit script. the GIbill just wasn’t enough to raise a family with an art student father. mom would eventually put dad thru school while completing her masters degree at Hunter College. had the first mom on our block with a college degree!

when i arrived back at my campsite that evening, a pure snow-white kitten with an extra toe on each foot was waiting for me. almost squashed her getting in my sleeping bag. named her Cosmo. Riff-Raff said she’s polydactyl, that’s where the extra toes come from. “great, i’ll teach her to play piano and take her on the road!”

she’s got plenty of friends. there’s Rocket J and Blackie Squirrel, Freddy Fox, Peter Possum, Rocky Raccoon, and “ten pounds of bullshit in a five pound bag....” that’s what Riff-Raff said when he heard about my trip to New York,. “they’ll follow ya there too!” he was probably right.