I’m writing this sitting in a small airport departure lounge. I’m supposed to be going to New York for my birthday but fate, in the shape of a world war and a biblical storm, seems to be stepping in.
Even YouTube has gotten in on the act, circulating video of planes struggling to land as if it was some weird spectator sport.
All a far cry from my first trip. At the time, the famous Chelsea Hotel still existed in untouched form, and was a must on my ever-growing ‘rock and roll tourist’ list.
The Chelsea, for the uninitiated, was the home of Dylan Thomas, William Burroughs, Janice Joplin and most famously Sid Vicious, whose romance with Nancy Spungen ended there.
This trip, I’m going to Birdland and also to the sites of CBGBs and the Mudd Club, as well as going back to Ground Zero and Dumbo, and schlepping round the Village as decadent as I can.
Will report further…
