New Beginnings
by Joan Hall
February 18, 2023

“Careful with that!” I exclaimed to my new husband, Harry, as he carried my Art Deco stained glass window up the stairs to our new apartment. I had gotten the window, a gift from my parents, when I married Harry in 1967. We were both so excited to move into an apartment over a diner in the Meatpacking District, where we would live for two years until we divorced.
The apartment was at 69 Gansevoort Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets. It had a fireplace and wood paneling. There was an extra bedroom that Harry would use as a studio. He was an artist and, at the age of twenty-six, already made a living from his paintings. His style was a cross between Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. How could he fail?
The neighborhood was desolate during the daytime, but at night it came alive with trucks delivering meat, and transvestites and transgender prostitutes. I was delighted to have the R & L Diner downstairs. It was an authentic diner, probably from the 1930s, and had quilted aluminum walls and a beautiful large circular clock. I loved not having to cook and just running downstairs to grab dinner for us….

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