Dad comes to New York
June 20, 2020
Dad loved to travel. And he loved to come visit us in Nuuuuuuu YORK! There was a certain way he said it that just told you he was proud that his son and daughter-in-law lived in the biggest city in the country.
He would talk for days and weeks and months leading up to his trips here. I often didn't know the details or the reasons for his business calls, but he would have clients lined up to visit, mostly in New Jersey or upstate New York, or even as far away as Delaware, using our house in Brooklyn or in Westchester as a base. At first, the trips were different parts of the year, but then he made sure to time them around the holidays - which was his favorite season in New York City - and then later his grandkids sporting events, recitals, performances, and graduation ceremonies.
When he was traveling for business, even if it wasn't the day of a business meeting, he would always wear a suit on the plane. On the occasion I would be picking him up at LaGuardia, he would be wearing his cologne and using one of his SICOA branded travel bags as a carry on. I never had to wait for dad at the airport. He was a quick in and out.
During the years when he was a supervisor of college officials, and later in the replay booth, dad would arrange to be assigned a game nearby. Some of our favorites were the games at the West Point Military Academy or the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
I don't know how he did it, but he would make it to New York every single year, typically 2 or 3 times a year.
During the early years, when Emilie and I were still in Manhattan and Brooklyn and before we were juggling the kids schedules, I would be on the hook to take mom and dad on a tour of the city. This always included a stop at Carnegie Deli or the Stage Deli. Later, we would go to Katz's deli. It really didn't matter as long as it was a New York deli.
I recall sometimes standing out in line to get in, something any savvy New Yorker would never, ever do. But dad didn't care, he just wanted to be there at a New York deli, flirting with the waitress who was either his age or older, ordering the Dolly Parton (two enormous meatballs on a plate), or his favorite, the Reuben.
One infamous trip involved mom and dad coming to New York the Christmas before Brendan was born, so it had to be 1992, and we had just bought a car - a guilty pleasure in New York. We were living in a one bed room apartment on 105th and Broadway and had a little Hannakuh bush decorated with paper ornaments Emilie had made.
Dad traveled up here with his business partner Bob Hawkins and mom and Bob's wife joined them. They stayed at either the New York or the Manhattan Sheraton in mid-town and there was a Nor'easter coming up the coast. That particular Friday, we had theater tickets and I was expected to take them all on a tour by car to see the sites. The entire city was shut down - even Broadway was canceled for the night due to the storm - and my driving tour ended up with us being stuck in a crazy traffic jam. At one point, I had mom and dad and their two friends in our Isuzu trooper, stuck in traffic, not moving one bit, and me driving up on the sidewalks downtown to get around the cars in endless gridlock. Oddly enough, I think Dad was happy to be in New York even in that moment, because it was a place where traffic could be that bad.
With almost everything canceled - I think the subways were even shut down - we ate dinner at a little cafe on the upper west side next door to our apartment. Dad just beamed. He was so happy to be in New York, even in the worst of situations.
The following evening, even though Broadway was closed, we ended up going to the Rainbow Room on the top floor of Rockefeller Center. To this day, Emilie talks about dancing with her father-in-law at the Rainbow Room and how he seemed to be the happiest man alive.
When the kids came, and we moved out to Brooklyn and then the suburbs, there was still the obligatory trip to the city. I became pretty good at doing a one-day driving tour of Manhattan with mom and dad on one of the days of their visit. There were still trips over the holidays, and we would do a drive-by of all the stores with the windows decorated for Christmas. One memorable holiday visit, we had a latke party on one of the nights of Hannukah. I think mom made over 150 latkes that night to help feed our kids and their hungry friends. On another trip to the city to look at the Christmas windows, we got stuck in the middle of Santa Con, with thousands upon thousands of young revelers dressed in Santa costumes all around us.
It didn't seem to matter what we had on the agenda. Mom and dad were just happy to be in New York.
When I would meet or become re-acquainted with one of dad's friends or business partners, they would ask if I was the one who lived in New York. This was then followed by "Oh, your dad always talks about his trips to New York City."
I am sure he was beaming with pride when talking about visiting his family in the big city - Nuuuuu YORK.
I trust there are good New York deli sandwiches where dad is now.
He would talk for days and weeks and months leading up to his trips here. I often didn't know the details or the reasons for his business calls, but he would have clients lined up to visit, mostly in New Jersey or upstate New York, or even as far away as Delaware, using our house in Brooklyn or in Westchester as a base. At first, the trips were different parts of the year, but then he made sure to time them around the holidays - which was his favorite season in New York City - and then later his grandkids sporting events, recitals, performances, and graduation ceremonies.
When he was traveling for business, even if it wasn't the day of a business meeting, he would always wear a suit on the plane. On the occasion I would be picking him up at LaGuardia, he would be wearing his cologne and using one of his SICOA branded travel bags as a carry on. I never had to wait for dad at the airport. He was a quick in and out.
During the years when he was a supervisor of college officials, and later in the replay booth, dad would arrange to be assigned a game nearby. Some of our favorites were the games at the West Point Military Academy or the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
I don't know how he did it, but he would make it to New York every single year, typically 2 or 3 times a year.
During the early years, when Emilie and I were still in Manhattan and Brooklyn and before we were juggling the kids schedules, I would be on the hook to take mom and dad on a tour of the city. This always included a stop at Carnegie Deli or the Stage Deli. Later, we would go to Katz's deli. It really didn't matter as long as it was a New York deli.
I recall sometimes standing out in line to get in, something any savvy New Yorker would never, ever do. But dad didn't care, he just wanted to be there at a New York deli, flirting with the waitress who was either his age or older, ordering the Dolly Parton (two enormous meatballs on a plate), or his favorite, the Reuben.
One infamous trip involved mom and dad coming to New York the Christmas before Brendan was born, so it had to be 1992, and we had just bought a car - a guilty pleasure in New York. We were living in a one bed room apartment on 105th and Broadway and had a little Hannakuh bush decorated with paper ornaments Emilie had made.
Dad traveled up here with his business partner Bob Hawkins and mom and Bob's wife joined them. They stayed at either the New York or the Manhattan Sheraton in mid-town and there was a Nor'easter coming up the coast. That particular Friday, we had theater tickets and I was expected to take them all on a tour by car to see the sites. The entire city was shut down - even Broadway was canceled for the night due to the storm - and my driving tour ended up with us being stuck in a crazy traffic jam. At one point, I had mom and dad and their two friends in our Isuzu trooper, stuck in traffic, not moving one bit, and me driving up on the sidewalks downtown to get around the cars in endless gridlock. Oddly enough, I think Dad was happy to be in New York even in that moment, because it was a place where traffic could be that bad.
With almost everything canceled - I think the subways were even shut down - we ate dinner at a little cafe on the upper west side next door to our apartment. Dad just beamed. He was so happy to be in New York, even in the worst of situations.
The following evening, even though Broadway was closed, we ended up going to the Rainbow Room on the top floor of Rockefeller Center. To this day, Emilie talks about dancing with her father-in-law at the Rainbow Room and how he seemed to be the happiest man alive.
When the kids came, and we moved out to Brooklyn and then the suburbs, there was still the obligatory trip to the city. I became pretty good at doing a one-day driving tour of Manhattan with mom and dad on one of the days of their visit. There were still trips over the holidays, and we would do a drive-by of all the stores with the windows decorated for Christmas. One memorable holiday visit, we had a latke party on one of the nights of Hannukah. I think mom made over 150 latkes that night to help feed our kids and their hungry friends. On another trip to the city to look at the Christmas windows, we got stuck in the middle of Santa Con, with thousands upon thousands of young revelers dressed in Santa costumes all around us.
It didn't seem to matter what we had on the agenda. Mom and dad were just happy to be in New York.
When I would meet or become re-acquainted with one of dad's friends or business partners, they would ask if I was the one who lived in New York. This was then followed by "Oh, your dad always talks about his trips to New York City."
I am sure he was beaming with pride when talking about visiting his family in the big city - Nuuuuu YORK.
I trust there are good New York deli sandwiches where dad is now.