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We don’t live
in the United States, we live...
The Something-istani is another of the Village's sixty-something trustfund children. He's brilliant, funny, charming...and over-educated, over-traveled, and bored out of his mind. He's got nothing to do but read and read and travel and party...never had to work a day in his life. The Village is FULL of these types. Not that I'm complaining. They sure are pros at the chowtime chat. Fascinating. They're specialists-the closest they come to having a profession is talking while eating. We went to Meyer Lansky's Lounge It's shamelessly named after the Jewish gangster, ostensibly because he used to eat there and perhaps was one of the original owners. Rumors abound. Lansky wasn't exactly kosher, but this place is. It serves kosher only. It has no sign. You have to go through a building, out back, through the alley, and then duck under dripping gook to get in. Outside, there's no sign but inside, there's a clean, classy joint, speak-easy style. Hey, it's underworld chic, but with comfort, hygiene, and a good sense of decor. Oh, and the inside has police photos of murdered gangsters. Charming. A bit grotesque but once you get into it, it goes well with the blintzes and the expensive Bordeaux they serve. All the folks at the table were at least ten years older than us, but are they were partying fools, so we all clicked. In the Village, you're never to old to boogie. Our dinner companion form Britain is a septuagenarian who likes to go to clubs and dance till dawn. She likes the gay clubs because the men don't hit on her and the women who do hit on her aren't as aggressive as a drunken partying heterosexual predatory funkhead. Yep, believe it or not, twentysomethings will hit on anybody, and a hip, sleek Village seventysomething is still a target. The Brit doesn't like to drink-why, I can't understand--but believe it or not, there are non-alcoholic clubs. She starts dancing at about one a.m. in the morning and finishes at dawn. --This in a room filled with hundreds of twenty-somethings, none of them drinking. What's the kick? I didn't get it until the Brit finally talked to one of the twentysomethings and he offered her a hit of Ecstasy. Ah! Now we get it! All this time, She's been dancing in a room full of wordlessly dancing trippers! Whatever this drug, Ecstasy, is and however much brain-damage it might cause, at least it gets the kids to shut up. There's something to be said for that (I am KIDDING). Well, at least they're not gangsters. Hmm. Is Ecstasy kosher? And does it go with red wine? Link Yaco has written comic books for several publishers. He is currently working on a couple comics-related paperbacks. He has been a copywriter, technical writer, newspaper journalist, and magazine entertainment writer. He has a Masters' degree in Telecommunications and was a technical manager at MIT for five years. Link lives in West Greenwich Village with his wife, Susannah, a Senior Vice President at an independent film company. Check out his web page here Read last week's column Visit Link Yaco Home Page COPYRIGHT 1999 LINK YACO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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richard e. schiff,
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y
wife and I had dinner with some pals the other night. One of our
dinner companions was a feller born in Something-istan but
raised in Europe. Another companion was from Russia and another
from Britain. Quite a cosmopolitan crew.
