By Ray DiLorenzo ——Bio and Archives--February 24, 2024
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For those who are unaware, Donald Trump grew up in Queens, NY, one of the boroughs of New York City. There are five: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Queens. Most of the attention goes to Manhattan, the land of the high rise, the Empire State Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Broadway, and Wall Street.
Growing up in New York City was an adventure, filled with the arts, museums, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Met. The Metropolitan Opera even came to our junior high school and performed.
Because New Yorkers have seen it all, they have a good sense for detecting BS. Where Chicago worships money, New Yorkers have a keen sense of the arts, and family, at least when I was growing up.
Brooklyn was the other destination, but a destination nonetheless. Some would say it has cachet. It was lauded, talked about, shown, and acclaimed in countless movies. It's the most populous county (Kings) in New York State and has the greatest pizza (no letters, please). Many famous people came from Brooklyn. Among them: Lena Horne, Woody Allen, Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy, Mickey Rooney, Jerry Seinfeld, Rita Hayworth, Joan Rivers, Jackie Gleason, and yours truly. The last time I visited New York, as we were leaving Brooklyn to drive to Manhattan, we saw a big sign that read, 'Leaving Brooklyn, Forgetaboutit.'
For the Bronx, if it weren't for the Yankees, no one would go there. At least, that's what we thought. As a kid, we still didn't go to the Bronx because we had the Brooklyn Dodgers (Dem Bums). Emphasis on 'had.'
We knew Staten Island was a borough, part of New York City, but I never met anyone who actually lived there or even went there to find something you couldn't get in Brooklyn. It's weird that it's even part of New York City, It's closer to New Jersey. When tourist books advise taking the ferry to Staten Island (free), it is because taking one of the four toll bridges (three from New Jersey) can be expensive and very time consuming with all the traffic. To us, it was a mysterious, far-off place.
Now, you have Queens, somewhat of an enigmatic place. Most people who land in New York don't know........