Concrete and Heels

Something I remember from back in the early ’80s popped into my head over the weekend having to do with walking around on high heels in New York City. Some women out there probably will remember this, because I couldn’t possibly be the only one with these memories.

Before women carried their high heel shoes in a bag but wore their sneakers or running shoes to work, things were different. When I first moved to New York, I was mesmerized by all the well-dressed women walking around the city on their high heels. Like, “How do they do that?” Remember, at that time suits and corporate wear for the most part were a must. And the well-dressed woman also wore some three- or four-in. heels to go with the outfit.

And I followed suit. Til this day I don’t know how I did it. Rushing around in my skirt and high heels all over New York City. Up and down stairs to and from the subway. Rushing, or running, to cross the street to make sure a taxi didn’t run me over. Everyone seemed to rush wherever they went. I always found myself rushing to make sure I got to my editing job. All this on all that concrete.

Not only were my feet screaming in pain every day, my shoes took the worst beating. New Yorkers do a lot of walking. It’s one of the only cities in the world where that is done. Everyone walks everywhere. Walking on concrete all day, every day of the week is hard on the feet and the rest of the body. Add high heels to that, and your feet take an incredible beating.

By the time I would get to work, I didn’t think my feet could last the rest of the day. By the time the workday was over, which in the publishing world could mean late, I had to somehow find my way home in those same shoes!

Shoes wouldn’t last too long after walking around New York City. Most of my shoes couldn’t take the pounding on the concrete day after day, so the shoes wouldn’t have a long life. I found myself going through shoes like crazy.

So, you ask, why not buy more comfortable shoes with a low heel? At that time, so many women, myself included, wouldn’t hear of it. The look was the heel and that was that. I have to say, thank goodness, the trend changed after a couple years. I started seeing women walking around in their little suits and socks and sneakers. What a concept! A great idea!

I finally took to the new idea, bought myself a great pair of sneakers and just brought my nice, high heel shoes with me and changed at work. But now I have the bad feet as a reminder of those days of “conrete and heels.”

By Day, Writers and Editors; By Night, Punk Rockers

Maybe we were not exactly punk rockers, but rockers, nonetheless.

We traveled in an interesting crowd back then. It was the early ’80s, and lots of ’70s and late ’70s influences were still upon us, thank goodness.

During the day it was work, work, work. Lots of the work was stressful. Remember, when you’re in publishing and a writer or editor, you live your life on deadline, at least your daytime life. Some of that flows over into other parts of life too. Everything has to be done at a certain time. That can be good and bad. However, that topic is for another time.

After working full, long, difficult days on a magazine, it’s great to be able to have an outlet after work, especially on the weekends. And New York, especially in the late ’70s and early ’80s, was the place with THE night life. And night life that didn’t end until 4 a.m. and then some.

At the time I first moved to New York City punk rock was still hanging on and was in fashion. Greenwich Village was the “in” spot for it all, not the tourist mecca it has become of late.

So, by day, we dressed in our little blue suits or more corporate wear for work. In those days you really had to dress for success. There were no “dress down” days. And, by night, we would get loose and get into our punk rocker mode, or rock ‘n’ roll mode.

New York City at the time had some of the best clubs for punk and rock. There also were dance clubs, but my crowd wasn’t really into that.

Many of the top-notch bands would play at a variety of clubs. There also were a lot of underground bands playing at underground clubs situated in the “bad” sections of the city. But these typically were the best places to go. Seedy clubs hidden in dark alleys. The dangerous atmosphere added to the mystique of New York at the time. Not to mention many of the strange characters we met.

The ‘Real’ Thing

Days ago I wrote about computers replacing people in some of the publishing jobs back in the late ’80s. What a shame. I still think back to those days and the people let go from their jobs. For a while I kept in contact with some of them. Some of the people were able to get other jobs right away. Others received some training so they could be marketable in the “new” world of publishing. And then there were those who were unable to find anything. I truly felt bad for them.

After showing so much loyalty to a company for so many years, it’s unfortunate when people get thrown away, as if they were nothing.

That leads me to what happened to the “real” New York. Yes, things change and cities grow. Parts of cities get revitalized. “Bad” sections of a city get gentrified. This can be great in many ways. Old, dilapidated buildings receive much-needed improvements. Boarded up businesses get bought and spring to life once again. Parks are improved. Or places where there are junkyards become parks. Trees are planted, fountains erected, dog walks set down.

To improve old neighborhoods is a great idea and, oftentimes, brings money into an area that once lacked funds. There also is the downside. To the extend that gentrification happened in New York, and still is happening, you find that the lower-income and poor were pushed out and still are being pushed out.

There were many areas in downtown New York that were considered artsy. I am not talking about all the expensive art galleries existing now. There were “starving” artists who lived downtown in lofts. Many of these artists had no option but to leave after genrification. An area would be revitalized and named the “latest hot spot.” The more affluent would want to live there and then poof! It becomes the “in” place to be. There’s no room for low-income or poor in the “in” place. 

Many of the low-income and poor also have been pushed out because expensive co-ops and condos replaced their homes. New York City never has been more expensive. Yes, it’s true, this is happening throughout the country. But New York City once had a “coolness” to it that just doesn’t exist any longer. It has become a city for the rich.

Towering glass structures are going up in many downtown areas where once stood picturesque architecture. Many see these new buildings as monstrosities that do not add to the character of New York. But it doesn’t matter. Pieces of land in New York go to the highest bidder. And there are tons of high bidders out there building what they think should stand tall, no matter its ulginess.

The prices in New York City have skyrocketed so high that it has been hitting the middle class as well. If you cannot afford at least $2,000 a month for a studio apartment, then you surely can’t afford $2 million to buy a two-bedroom co-op or condo. Yep, those are the prices. And those prices include about 1,000 square feet of space. If you’re lucky maybe 1,200 square feet.

Soon the only thing left of the old New York City will be the memories of those of us who were there before all this gentrification took place.

The Early ’80s and Typesetting

Boy things really were different back then. Not that it’s so long ago in the scheme of things. But in the early ’80s there was no Quark or InDesign. Not even Pagemaker. There was old-fashioned typesetting and cutting and pasting.

When I began my career in publishing as an editorial assistant, I ran around and wore many hats. Since I desperately wanted to truly be in the editorial department, I watched, learned and did anything and everything I could and that the higher-ups would allow.

Much of what I did entailed going to the art department. At that time there were a number of artists doing everything manually. You really got to see a lot of talent at that time. Drawings done by hand and from scratch. Things like that now are rare.

The art department also was in charge of getting the magazine’s pages down on boards. Everything written and edited was done on an old computer program with a black or blue screen. Then when everything was edited and ready to go it would be “shipped” via these old computer systems to the typesetting department. What came back to us were the actual “pages” that would be put on the boards in the art department.

When the pages came in the copy desk would do final copy edits and proofreading. Any mistakes were marked up and brought down to the art department where “magic” would occur, the old-fashioned method of “cut and paste.”

It really was fascinating to watch. Sometimes full sentences had to be cut out, and letter by letter an artist would correct the sentences or words and paste them onto the board. You had to have patience and a steady hand.  Kind of like a type of surgeon.

As editorial assistant I often ran down to the art department, especially on deadline days. I would have to run and get this or that and make sure everything went out to the printer on time.

It truly was exciting at times, and exhausting. There were tons of late nights during deadline. Everyone on staff would become this close, stressed-out family all working toward the same goal. On days and nights like this, you would get a real adrenaline rush.

The Big Move to New York

As a young, “green” and ambitious writer who moved from the surrounding Phoenix area to New York in the 80s, I encountered many different things. First of all, Phoenix was not such a “big town” back then, and moving to the Big Apple was a big deal.

Before I even got to New York, my parents had some reservations about the move. They feared me leaving and going it alone to the big bad city. But go alone I did. I had things to do, places to see, and fun to have.

Phoenix at the time was not the big city it is today. Back then, the way I saw things, it was boring in Arizona. I previously had been to New York on various occasions to visit with family and that is where I wanted to be, wanted to write and wanted to have experiences.

Having graduated from college, I decided to get out of my hum-drum home town and take off on a wild adventure. As my parents bit their fingernails and worried for my safety, I couldn’t be happier. New York, here I come. That’s all I knew and all I wanted.

I wanted to be a writer, a journalist, and New York was the place. There didn’t seem to be many writing opportunities in Phoenix at the time. And didn’t all the great writers start in New York? Weren’t all the big publishing houses in New York? The great newspapers, the best magazines? Everything seemed to be based in New York. So that’s where I had to be. Plus, I knew there were many exciting experiences of which I would get to be a part.

My friends were excited for me. Maybe some were envious. And I was doing this alone. Some of my friends also thought I was brave because of this. Maybe I was, and maybe I was young,  naive and even somewhat stupid. Time would tell.

Well, there were experiences, that’s for sure. Let’s put it this way, when I first got there it was like the farm girl goes to New York. Lots of things I saw…well, some I wish I never encountered, others are great memories. I had to learn not to be so naive, and that would come for sure.

Hello world!

Hello world and welcome to my blog. From Phoenix to New York and back to Phoenix.

Well, this is it. Kind of my first blogging experience talking about a prior experience. Early 20-something young woman takes off from the Phoenix area in the early ’80s to see and work in New York. Leaves her friends and family behind to go on an exciting adventure to the Big Apple.

Should be an exciting ride of memories. Let’s see what I remember and what I come up with for this blog. Stay tuned…