SHORE LEAVE IN NEW YORK

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 244, 25 February 1944, Page 16

SHORE LEAVE IN NEW YORK

Some of the Sights Our Men Are Seeing SOLDIERS, sailors and airmen who have been to New York will be interested in these extracts from the letter of a young Wellington Ordinary Seaman, H. J. D. Smith, who went to England last year to work for a commission in the Navy. So will the fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters of those servicemen. at uk Ht E anchored for the evening, and saw the lights of New York across the harbour. The next day we moved up the harbour and anchored in the East River (haunt of the Dead End Kids in the pictures). One side was beautiful with modern apartments and hotels, average about 16 stories, and the other like nothing on earth. We could now see the Empire State building, and could appreciate its 102 stories. The coastguards came on board and photographed us, as we were aliens in the States. They came back the next morning, and we went ashore. They took us ashore in a launch, and for the 200 yards it cost 1.35 dollars; pretty hot, we thought, and it was the same to go back, but was worth it to go ashore. We went into the centre of the city itself by bus. That costs 10 cents, and you can ride all day. Everything is like that. The tubes cost only five cents,. but we didn’t feel up to that then. We got out at 42nd Street on Fifth Avenue and had a good look round. We went up to the Anzac Club, and they gave us tickets to a show Sweet Rosie O’Grady, with Betty Grable, which wasn’t bad at all. All the theatres here are terrific and continuous; they also have a stage show, featuring a famous swing band, so you will see I enjoyed them all. We went down to the Stage Door Canteen, and frankly, I was a little disappointed with it. However, they provided quite good tea with fresh milk. The milk, however, has- no cream on it. We had dinner uptown at a Woolworth’s store-they run a cafeteria and a restaurant in every one of their stores. They have about 20 I think, in New York, and you can get a marvellous meal there for about 40 cents. A City of Restaurants The city seems to be composed of restaurants, small bars and shops. The bars are very well appointed. There is no shortage of whisky. I went into Jack Dempsey’s Bar with the boys. They had a band playing-all in all, a very nice place. It’s on Broadway. This Broadway is a_ great place. There are picture theatres in a long line for about half a mile, but strangely enough, all the opera houses and vaudeville shows are on side streets off Broadway. Paul Robeson was. showing in Othello, but it did not appeal to me. As we had to be back on board each night by 11.0, we did not get around much until the last evening, when we had all night liberty. But the people of New York gave us a marvellous time. All pictures were free, and (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) most meals. One interesting thing was an automatic cafeteria; things just come out to you and you pay by a slot. The bars are open to 3.0 a.m. as a rule, and some all night long, yet I saw only one drunk person while I was in New York. Maybe the price has something to do with it. Drinks are terribly dear. A thing I noticed about dances is the fact that they never have any supper. The cars in the streets are absolutely "super"; they are all new or nearly new-two years old at the most-and as the petrol ration for civilians is two gallons per week, there is still plenty of traffic. There are more taxis than anything else, and they are very reasonable; it doesn’t matter how many passengers you have, the fare is just the same. The tubes are not as good as I expected, but are still very fast. They are only about 30 feet below the street level. "Just Like the Pictures" We went over the Brooklyn Bridge one day and had a look at the slum quarters of New York. They are exactly like those scenes shown in the pictures with tenements and cellars, kids playing in the streets, and the proverbial man with a barrow. These are to be seen on most street corners. They sell apples, etc; an apple costs five cents. A thing that seems strange to me is that I have yet to see a butcher’s shop as we know them at home. Their cakes, on the other hand, are very massive things, like those pictured in magazines, built up layer on layer. Everybody seems to eat immense slices of cake (with a fork) at the least excuse; they eat all day and night. I don’t think the service clubs are as well appointed. as the American Red Cross one in Wellington. They are used chiefly as distributing points for tickets for shows, and so on. If you pick your night, you can see anything for nothing. I was disappointed in not being able'to see a game of American football or basketball, but there was a rodeo on at Madison Square Garden featuring Roy Rodgers, the cowboy film star. There was no burlesque on while I was there, but the floor show they put on at the Stage Door Canteen is very good. One night I was there the Ziegfeld Follies Company put on the show, and artists from one of the night clubs or shows are there every night. However, I saw no Hollywood personalities.