Author: ruhlwrite

Ann Kos cannot meet you at the front door. She lives on the middle floor of her three-family house, and she can’t go up and down the stairs any more without a chaperone. Ann was born and raised in Astoria. So she waits at the landing, leaning on her walker, which is what she got for Christmas after she took a tumble on the balcony patio. The guy from the chair-lift company is coming in a couple weeks. The hall is narrow, the chair is wide, and it may not work out. For Ann, the stairs lead…

Continue Reading →

Does it smell like cigarette smoke? Jim Ruchalski, a pack-a-day guy, has gone to a lot of trouble to clear the stale-smoke scent out of his apartment. That’s why the candles are burning and the fans are humming on high. Jim’s a geologist for the city. “I can open a window,” he says, looking at the hookah in the corner and the empty ashtrays in the living room. Jim, who has neon blue eyes and smile lines etched into his weathered face, has been smoking since he was 13. He’s…

Continue Reading →

When I first saw him, he was sitting on the stoop. I wouldn’t have noticed him except he was clutching a bunch of daffodils. Daffodils are symbols of unrequited love. The flowers, which were bowing their buttery brows in a nod to nighttime, and probably a lack of water, were married by a piece of crunched-up tin foil. The man, who had lost his youth long ago, looked a little sad. He petted my dog, so I said hello and remarked upon the beauty of the blooms. He smiled. I continued my walk and…

Continue Reading →

“Good morning, Jerry!” George Kavadias follows this wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee greeting with a hale-and-hearty handshake. George at his command post. He performs the same ritual when Super Dave and Kathy and all the other regulars stop in at Family Corner Restaurant. “I try to keep my family and friends close,” George says. “And I consider my customers friends who are like family.” Family Corner, the pint-sized coffee shop with the big-diner menu, has been…

Continue Reading →