There was a bit of excitement in the old neighborhood today. As I approached the block I grew up on, Bay 37th, in Bensonhurst, I saw smoke against the blue sky and heard sirens. What was formerly known as the Ultissima Beauty School - affectionately known as Ul-tits-ima to ruffians, yours truly excepted, of course - was burning. It is around the corner and up one street from my old house, and directly across the way from where I set up the floating bookshop most Saturdays, 24th Avenue. Scores of spectators lined the opposite side of 86th Street and gawked past the elevated tracks. The storefronts had been evacuated. Windows had been shattered by the firemen, many of whom had had to travel only 200 yards to fight the blaze. There were trucks from others companies as well. Apparently, authorities decided to err on the side of caution. The damage seemed minimal, although my oldest niece, Isabel, who had been there from the start, said flames had been rising from the roof. Perhaps someone had left a curling iron unattended. It is just as possible the fire had started in the little Mexican restaurant a few doors down. No one knew. I spotted Vinny, whose family for decades has owned the huge property on the next block that houses the Dolphin Gym, a dollar store and an Albanian restaurant. "Lookin' to expand?" I said quietly. He laughed.
The area was still blocked off by the time I was ready to go to work, so I had to set up elsewhere. I headed to Bay Parkway, six blocks further, my Sunday spot. It proved to be lucky. I immediately sold a spelling book to a mom looking to help her son's reading. And then a tall young man approached, a box cradled to his chest. He said he was the son of a frequent donor, Joanne. He looked just like her. As soon as I'd set out the hard covers she'd surrendered, Jack, an employee of the Chase Bank directly in front of me, stepped out the main door. I thought he was going to say his boss had told him to tell me to take a hike. Not! He has an hour-and-a-half subway commute and goes through three books a week. He took eight. Thanks, folks.
On a sad note, Peter Falk, 83, has died. In the 70's, he created the wildly popular role of Columbo, a detective whose quirkiness and drab attire bamboozled murderers. He won four Emmys. He also did outstanding work in films, twice nominated for an Academy Award, as the deadly Abe Reles in Murder, Inc. (1960) and as a comic thug in A Pocketful of Miracles (1961). I wonder if he'll wear the raincoat in heaven. RIP.
And to cap off a fine day, I found Monica Brinkman's The Turn of the Karmic Wheel in my mailbox. I'd won a copy by answering a question correctly. Monica does yeoman work promoting the work of writers published by All Things That Matter Press, including web radio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/monicabrinkmanandoana I look forward to reading her book.
Read Vic's books, free: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
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