New York City, 1970s:
awash in contradictions —
Downtown,
grit and graffitti lined walls,
pop art and disco
lent a thrumming beat.
Uptown,
moguls in suits
sent towers of glass and steel
rising in the sky.
At 5 East 54th street,
Larry Ellman’s Cattleman
stood at the confluence.
A larger-than-life steakhouse,
The Cattleman was part feast, part show.
P.T.Barnum would have been proud.
Broadway filled its booths
alongside businessmen in suits.
In 1977,
my family of five finished
our chuckwagon meals
then heading outside for
a stagecoach ride.
Yes, a stagecoach.
The Candy apple red coach
with lemon yellow cushions
sat curbside, complete with
cowboy-hat clad driver.
You can see the wonder
in my younger brother’s eyes
as he listens to the driver
Prepare us for the journey.
No time machine
could have been more startling
to his young suburban heart.
Larry Ellman’s Cattleman is no more.
Gone, too, are disco, Andy Warhol,
and any graffiti not sanctioned by the city.
For me, the world is poorer for the loss.
A Reading Life 
Wow! What a different NYC. I notice “free parking” in the picture. That’s a thing of the past!
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A great photo and wonderful story poem. oh there are things missed from those times. so glad to see a window into that past.
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This photo has the same look as my photos from the 70s a bit blurry and farther away than it would be now, but you can still see the joy on the faces and feel the thrill of the time. Such a great memory!
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Wow, that’s a side of NYC I never knew! Thanks for sharing it. The specific memorize are great- the address, the colors. I like how you associate it with Andy Warhol and disco I the last verse- NY is so everything, isn’t it?
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