The idea for this blog has been lurking for many years, but as many of us know, we never have time, energy and inspiration to write. Nevertheless, I got my gut under control and with the help of the best editor in the world, a.k.a. my lovely wife, I decided to start blogging our funny and unusual encounters in the Big Apple.
We moved to New York, “The City of the Yellow Devil,” in 2000, when Dotcom companies were taking over the world, our imagination and our money. Yes, I am one of you who became prey of the Golden Dream too. But this blog is not about stocks or money; it is about people, strange people, and New Yorkers. So back in 2000, the first place we lived in New York was a charming railroad-style apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The place was cozy (read: you could hear every breath the neighbors took) and our neighbors were full of character. Upstairs, we had a Caribbean Family, always playing salsa so loud that we had to yell to each other in our living room to be heard. During the brief intermissions, the daughter would be sitting on the hallway stairs and weeping J-Lo at the top of her lungs. Bellissimo!
Downstairs, in the basement, we had a young hipster-wannabe couple who loved to get high in their room. Hey, I’m all for it, but when your neighbors smoke 18 hours a day and the smoke seeps up through your floorboards like ghost fog making your apt. smell like a stale tavern, it sure makes me want to be their friends. Hey, neighbor! Oh yeah, did I mention they were also musicians who loved to practice drum solos? Oh yeah, that reminds me of our other neighbors next door, another young hipster couple. They were both DJs who liked late night mixing sessions.
Overall, as many New Yorkers would agree with me, we lived in a normal Brooklyn home environment, were neighbors are more than just neighbors. Even when you have to call the police sometimes.
We were young and beautiful then, full of energy and big dreams. We spent a lot of time together exploring the various and diverse ‘hoods of the City. One of our favorite activities was walking over the Williamsburg Bridge to/from Brooklyn/Manhattan. We enjoyed the fresh air, the spectacular view the bridge offered and of course the characters you meet on the way.
One sunny and crisp late October morning, we were peacefully enjoying some Brooklyn Art (i.e. graffiti) on a desolate street below the bridge. It was quiet and the air was fresh and filled with the smell of fall. As we were passing by, suddenly, out of the middle of nowhere, a Latino man briskly got up and without looking at anybody yelled,
“LIVING IN NEW YORK YOU HAVE TO BE MUCHO LOCO!!!” He stood up, yelled these fine words, briefly glanced our way, and then just walked down the street like nothing happened. You can imagine our faces. Yes, this captured it all and has been our mantra since. Since then, over the last decade in NYC, we have witnessed many truly LOCO situations and to some extent, we understand why living in New York, you do indeed have to be Mucho Loco. So, this blog is to keep track of all those truly Loco stories and share them with the Internets for entertainment. Enjoy!
If you have some truly Loco stories you’d like to share, you can also email them to me
here.
