Button, Button, He Got Ya Button!

I was working as an assistant in a photo studio on the 28^th floor of a building on 7th Avenue when the lights went out. We looked out and watched them wink off across town: it was 1965 and we got to watch the first New York City blackout. It was weird. As it happened, my friend Al lived a few blocks away and after walking down the fire stairs with a few hundred other people, I figured I might as well walk over to his apartment since without electricity it seemed to be a good bet that there would be no subway to get me home to my parents house in Brooklyn. Fortunately Al and his folks lived on the 3^rd floor. And they were home. For some reason, the phones were working so I was able to call home and assure Mom that I was well and had a place to spend the night and equally important, that Al's mother was going to feed us. Then me and Al decided to take a walk.

With all the stuff that went on that evening, my strongest memory was walking up to Times Square. There were no street lights and traffic signals were out but  less than an hour later there were guys on the street selling flashlights. And by the time we got up to 42^nd Street, the food joints and hot dog stands had gas lamps and candles set up and were doing business as usual. That was the evening I learned that New Yorkers – the ones who make the place happen - have their own particular hustle. By next morning there were guys driving around with trucks loaded with huge hunks of dry ice, hawking it to food retailers. Of course, these are the same people who set up stands selling umbrellas within seconds of the first drops hitting the pavement. 

 And in that great New York spirit, here is a guy who appeared on 5^th Avenue around the 3^rd week of January.  

 He probably was there the day before too, but with 400,000 people walking by, it was hard to notice him then.  Today I stopped to chat with him.  Pleasant guy.  Nice buttons and tourists probably think $5 is a fair price. Hey, buck's a buck, right?  Say hello if you are demonstrating in the neighborhood.