My Early Days in New York City 1940’s 1950’s

7 Sutton Place was my first home, 80 years ago. I recall the tiny beach we had. About 15 feet wide, white sand, I stood there and called to the tugboats in the East River to honk their horns, and they did. I looked for them. They looked for me. Every day. FDR island was just upriver from me. On the Queens side was Donald J Trump. He was supported by my family. He built tall buildings in Manhattan. He took down some buildings containing 1930’s art. But my family was very supportive of Marine Air Terminal that preserved a lot of 1930’s art. It was the age of flying boats. The most popular ones went to Cuba. Some also went to Brazil. Back in the day Brazil was a very modern nation. There was some concern that Chile might take it over, but that did not happen. The Montego Bay Country Club in the Caribbean was popular with the Park Avenue crowd. I learned to play tennis there. The pro was a famous tennis player. People went to Cuba to buy cigars. That was before Cuba became communist. My playground in Central Park was Mother Goose. But I also played a lot on the field across the road. The bike path, near the road went all the way around the Park. I got to the West Side for my first time by walking that bike path. My first job was as poetry reader at Cafe Basement on McDougal Street in the Village. But I had to come back uptown for food — there was no decent food in the Village in the 1940’s and 1950’s. So I ate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Cafe downstairs next to the falling water fountain. Amazing full hot meals for about $1.40. My earnings reading poetry were about $15 per weekend, so about $60 per month. Enough for my rent in a 5 story cold water walk up on Washington Square North. I also had to pay a girl to teach me Tango. Since Durham’s School of the dance would not do that. Yes, I did some tango dances at the various cotillions, but never as an Exhibition Dancer. I was just a 12 year old that knew how to dance. They always invited me to the International Cotillion to be an escort. I always said no, but went anyway as just a regular guest. I did not have a white tie monkey suit — all I had was black tie Tuxedo. But it was cut for me and fit me well. I danced Mambo, Cha Cha, Rhumba, and Tango. People cleared space for us. I was floor committee so I got my pick of the best dancing girls. I had a blue horse ribbon on my Tuxedo lapel. That said I was floor committee. Mom was on the Park Avenue Committee, the MOMA Committee, the Cotillion board, and the Central Part Committee. She gave Trump a lot of introductions.