A TALE OF TWO NATIONS

Es indiscutible la existencia de dos comunidades claramente diferenciadas en New York. Siempre ha sido así y nada indica que vaya a cambiar. La ciudad retratada en Midnight Cowboy, Fort Apache the Bronx o Escape from New York nada tiene que ver con la openning scene de Manhattan y su Rhapsody in Blue de fondo. Basta con leer The Bonfire of the Vanities para ver la diferencia entre el mundo de los sueños ilimitados del Park Avenue de Sherman McCoy y el de la degradación y conflicto social de Harlem y el Bronx. El censo de 2005 indica que en el Upper East Side, entre las calles 59 y 96 , existen 132.000 personas de entre una población de 217.000 que poseen titulación universitaria. A pocos minutos de allí, en Hunts Point, Bronx, sólamente 1.405 personas de entre 46.800 ostentan titulación en educación superior. Los datos de mortalidad infantil por cada 100 nacimientos ofrecen un dato revelador: 1'5 en el Upper East Side y 6'2 en Hunts Point...Ricos y pobres, separados unos de otros como si Robert Moses hubiera ordenado levantar su particular e invisible muro de Berlín de piedra cemento y alambre de espino a lo largo de la calle 96. It's been a long long time since my last post. Sorry, I was feeding the cat.

Just three weeks...

Sólamente quedan tres semanas. En 21 días, more or less, con permiso de la autoridad y si el tiempo no lo impide, there will be el primero de una larga lista de another cool, cool, afternoons at The Hill, by the lake, in Central Park, NYC. I'am one of the many New Yorkers who have enjoyed sitting on a hillside in Central Park on a Saturday in the summer listening to David Ippolito, "That Guitar Man''. I have brought my friends who visit the city to listen to him because he represents more than anything else what this great city has to offer, and he dispels the myth that everything costs too much in the city. ..

.

Long distance, long time, long past due.

Through the years I've wondered if I'd ever hear from you.

But, the phone rings and here you are.

I haven't felt like this in fifteen years.

How are you? Where are you calling from tonight?

When this moment came somehow I always knew I'd be alright.

And 'though I'm trembling, I'm relieved.

Still, I can't believe that it's been fifteen years.

It's hard to know what I'm feeling as I'm listening to your voice.

Harder, still, knowing what to say.

'Cause it's hard to admit that ever since you made your choice

I've been seeing you in daydreams every single day.

.

How many? Four children? Mother and a wife.
Me? No, I've stayed single through a rollercoaster life.
So far, there's only been one woman that I'd ask
In fifteen years.

Sure, I've known a few dark hours since the day you had to go
It took time for me to understand
That a love like ours is something so few ever get to know,
And in learning how to let it be maybe I'm a better man.

Don't hang up yet. It's too soon. You have to go.
But, before you do there's one more thing I think you need to know.
The best part of me is in love with you.
It's nothing that we'd ever have to fear.
'Cause, long ago it seemed I'd never have you near.
So, smile for me, and please don't disappear
For another fifteen years