9352. SLEEPING IN NEW YORK CITY

SLEEPING IN 

NEW YORK CITY

When I travel, I don't really

travel at all. It's always the 

same: What I don't see, I miss.

When I see things, I forget what

I saw. Like Edward G. Robinson,

drinking a beer. I swear I saw that,

last Saturday, but he's been dead for

some thirty years. It was at Brody's

Tavern, Lexington and 28th, I think,

and he looked right at me like we

were friends. And then he was gone. 

I asked Mark, the bartender, what I

had just seen, and all he said was, 

'How the hell would I know? You're

doing the seeing. Listen, you want

another?'

-

The guy gives me the creeps; Mark,

I mean. He's the one who sent his own

friend to represent him at his wedding,

because he 'wanted to work. This tips

are better.' I mean, what the heck was

that? I wondered if he let his friend then

get her or if he let her.

-

When I'm done walking around, I just

sleep  -  somewhere, anywhere. You know,

this is New York. it's not like Cos Cob,

Connecticut or something, where they

have brushmen to clean the gutters daily.

Here, you just sort of fall over, or lean

anyway, to sleep. Somewhere, anywhere.

It'll always catch you. Whether it's cold

or not, well, that's your own problem.

-

One of the city's drawbacks, for sure, is

the outdoor Winter. But one of its good things,

too, is the steam that leaks everywhere. If

you can find the right spot, or spots  -  over

gratings or warm-pipes areas, you can stay

pretty warm. But the problem mostly is some

jerk's usually always been there before you

and claims the spot, or seems to, with a

knife or a story. In New York they're about

both the same. Either one can kill you.

-

I always watch what's about; but this Edward

G. Robinson thing, man, it really got to me,

made me think I was maybe going crazy. 

Y'know how that is? It's not like forgetting

to mail a letter, or paying your taxes. When

you're in my condition of living you don't

do much of that. It's more like just feeling

you're in a daze, all the time. It gets so

boring. So, I don't go anywhere, even though

I'm always on the move. Figure that. And,

maybe on a free day or something, if you

see this Edward G. Robinson guy, tell him

to call me. 'Cept, no, I don't have no phone.