view raw text
ON THE BROADWAY SCENE ByBurtBoyar NEW YORK, N.Y., June 3. I LIKE NEW YORK IN JUNE! ! ! ! Out of towners say, "Its a nice place to visit, but I wouldnt dant to live there." Well, they are lucky people. Their home towns must have a lot. ! But I wonder if they have an El Morocco where even when it rains the stars are shining. . . . Do they have Le Pavilion, the Louvre Museum of food? ... Or the Rock-ettes, who still give us a kick . . . Can they walk down their streets and get the thrill of passing Greta Garbo? . . . Have they a "21" where educated stomachs do post graduate work in five courses. ... Can they watch the Queen Mary sail past their windows? ... Or get chills down their spine by driving past the Christmas tree lights of the George Washington Bridge at night? 4 A 4 I DONT KNOW about their home towns, but mine has a street called East End Avenue. Its a strange street. For a thousand dollars a month you can rent windows which look right into 0 a month" rooms. ... We have the Plaza, the Pierre, St. Regis, Sherry-Netherland where 0 a night will only get you icy stares. ... Weve got the Waldorf, where even on a Sunday night at 10 oclock you can have a suit pressed. . . . Here, you can hire a brand new limousine and chauffeur and for an hour, presto, youre as good as the next "millionaire." . . . We have Carnegie Hall, where at the same time two men fiddle for a living. Jascha Heifetz is on the stage I dont know the name of the fellow outside, on the corner, who collects his salary in a hat. AAA THIS JS A TOWN where on a single street you can buy a few hours with Paul Douglas, Franchot Tone, Cyril Ritchard, Walter Pidgeon, Margaret Leighton, Robert Weede, Dame-Sibyl Thorndike or Tom Eweli. Im talking about W. 45th street, near Shubert Alley, the Mecca toward which all actors face and pray ... We have no roller .coasters but we have the elevators at the Empire State Building and theres no charge. . . . And, we have Reubens, where a very famous actor sits with owner Arnold Reuben, needling "Howcum Im not a sandwich?" AAA Its a city where a hard-boiled, cynical cabbie will drive a famous actress to, the City of Hope telethon. He wont let her pay for the ride. "Toss the buck in the pot," he says as he drives away to con-"tinue "hating" people . . . This is where even a peasant can buy a shirt from a real-live duke whos working at Saks Fifth Avenue. Or maybe hes a prince? Oh, well, who counts? . . . And, we have the Yan- kees, who are giants and, we even used! to have three basebanv teams . . . This is where the Manhattan scalpers still want only 4. Cept, you dont get an Island any more. Just one ticket to "My Fair Lady." AAA We have our own Stork, which caters only to babies of 18 years and up . . . The Automat where you can still use nickels, but you need more of them . . . The lower Fifth Avenue cop who stops your car in the middle of the night. Hes thrilled that your left headlight was out. Anything for a chance to talk to someone during his lonely patrol . . . Our cops see a lot of irony. They might race to a Fifth Avenue penthouse where a Hundred Thousand-a-Year-Man has taken his own life because he couldnt make ends meet. An hour later the same squad cars will screech to the tenements to help deliver the ninth child to the wife of a 0 a week laborer who cant stop smiling. AAA This is where a movie star hurries past Nedicks with a friend who wanted to stop for a hot dog. The star explains, "It took me 20 years to get out of those places. Im not going back" . . . And we have a built-in-psychiatrist couch for people who think theyve got troubles. Just drive to the lower East Side or past the uptown slums. One look one smell, and you realize how good youve got it ... A 6-year-old I Continued on Page Forty-One ON THE BROADWAY SCENE By BURT BOYAR Continued from Page -Two whizzes past you on one roller-skate. His brother is close behind on the other . . . And just for variety, weve got Greenwich Village where everyone is so friendly. Why, even total strangers will throw their arms around you and hug you! Have I omitted the zoo, the Metropolitan Museum and its kid brother, the Museum of Modern Art, where Picassociety can lunch outdoors right on the grounds. Or the Museum of Natural History, where you can check on whats new with dinosaurs. Migawd, I havent been to the Hay-den Planetarium in years. I was invited once to work in Los Angeles." But, California is cold and its damp. Ill take Manhattan even the Bronx and Staten Island. Maybe, theres soot in the air and dirt on the streets. But I dont seem to notice stuff like that. I guess love IS blind and I love New York in June how about you?
