A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Tuesday, July 22nd... Man! I have to apologize. I have been on a world wind tour of NY/NJ and now I am back at my desk to share the experience. NY was great! Between the gunfire and the pitbulls, Brooklyn was as lively as always... (I walked around when it was deemed safe!)I enjoyed the sights and sounds of my old neighborhood. The different dialects of the Caribbean fill the air as the arguments continue on the street corners all hours of the day. I love the smell of meat patties and jerk chicken as the combination penetrate my nose and head straight for my brain, allowing me to envision what it must be like to live on an island other than Staten (Island). The women are scantily dressed and walking around freely as if danger is on vacation. My head snaps around as though I am watching a tennis match. I also got a kick out of watching jobless 18 year olds drive around in 6 Series Beemers and Escalades and wonder how they made that happen(?). I went to Manhattan to take in the sights. It always amazes me to see the different hustles people come up with. There is an actual Mariochi (Is that spelled right?) Band that rides the Q train, playing their music as subway riders fill their ten gallon cowboy hats with change as they stroll through the cars. (Ahh, only in New York... and Mexico!) I'm going back up there next week. I want to monitor the progress of the gentrification movement taking place. Not to worry, my passport is current in case I have to move back to Africa by order of the NBA! (The Nets are moving to Brooklyn and the rents are going up!

A Warped POV by A. Dacosta Brathway

Yeah, yeah... I know. I haven't been here since early April. I was in new York City catching up on my life and getting re-aquainted with "from wence I came." I had forgotten how spontaneous life can be (if you let it) until I was standing on the corner of 5th Ave and 45th St., when from out of nowhere a crowd gathered and a breakdance broke out! I stood there and watched and thought, "You know, I would never see a bunch of naive tourists willfully be conned out of their money by a group of breakdancers in Maryland!" Their moves were choreographed and set to music blaring from a boom box! Then there was the fire truck that t-boned a car that killed a young woman in Queens and the juryless trial, that ended in the aquittal of three detectives that killed an unarmed, young, and intoxicated black man at his bacholar party in a hail of bullets!It was a boring trip to say the least, not to mention the argument I had with my 80+ year old mother who claimed that Marilyn Monroe had absolutely nothing to do with Playboy because she saw MM's life story in a movie and they made no mention of it. (However, they did mention how she didn't like to bathe and didn't like to wear panties when she went to a formal affair!) Go figure! It was very cool and rainy the whole time I was there and I had no warm clothes. I slept on a futon that was a foot too short and I had minimal money. (Okay, so I donated some to the breakdancers' fund! Sue me.) All in all I had a good time. It was good to get my blood pumping again and I will always have the lasting image of watching the Black folks file out of the old Brooklyn neighborhoods, like lemmings, because of gentrification issues. "New York, New York, the BIG APPLE!"