Fifty-three years ago tonight.......
July 20, 1969……..
I remember it like it was yesterday.
My fellow water display fountain tycoons – Dale & Jeanne - & I drove up to City Island in the Bronx to have dinner at our friend, Nick Mellas’, restaurant. Natch, because it was City Island, Nick’s was a seafood joint & the scallops he served were just about the best I’ve ever had. All of his fish was displayed on a bed of ice & you simply chose what you wanted them to cook for you. Plus, the soft breezes off the waters of Throgs Neck were just what we needed on a hot & humid New York City evening.
By the way - & apropos of nothing, really – Nick eventually sold his restaurant & became the head bartender at Gallagher’s, our gang’s favorite saloon/steakhouse on West 52nd Street. Nick was great. He was one of the funniest guys I knew, but hardly ever cracked a smile. The driest sense of humor east of the Hudson. Plus, Nick always poured a good stiff drink & bought every third one. Nick & I would often have three-way conversations with guys like Jimmy Breslin & Count Basie & Robert Vaughn – yeah, ‘The Man From Uncle’.
Okay. Anyway…..
The talk at Nick’s joint on the evening of July 20, 1969 was about two things: the moon landing & Ted Kennedy’s getting hammered, driving off a bridge in Chappaquiddick & killing Mary Jo Kopechne. Looking back, I think the Kennedy story dominated the conversation for some reason.
After having gotten stuffed on Nick’s fish & half-baked on his booze, we headed back down to Midtown.
Dale & I dropped Jeanne off at their apartment building at 52nd & 8th & drove his Caddy down to the garage, which was on 40th Street, between Broadway & 8th.
That Caddy.
Man, I loved that beast. It was a ’60 white convertible, nine miles long & had black leather seats & fins that jutted up almost to my chin. And I used to drive that bad boy all over the boroughs & the Island & Jersey – top down, wind in my hair & tunes like ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ & ‘People Got To Be Free’ blasting from the radio, all courtesy of Ron Lundy & the WABC ‘Good Guys’.
After we dropped off the beast, Dale & I decided to walk home (I was staying with them at the time). It was around ten o’clock & only twelve short blocks.
When we got to 42nd & 8th, we decided to grab a cup of coffee at one of those pass-the-food-&-drink-through-the-little-bullet-proof-glass-window places (it was a rough neighborhood back then – before it became ‘Disneyfied’).
As we were standing there sipping our coffees, we looked up. And there was the moon. It was a waxing three-quarter moon, so it really stood out. It seemed to hover right over the intersection of 42nd & 8th.
And Dale & I both realized that two guys were up there on it.
Two men were on the moon.
And then the damndest thing happened. A couple of people looked up. Then they pointed at it - the moon. And then, a few others looked up. And in a few short seconds, everybody on the street & the street corner was looking at it, too. And, for some reason, we all started waving, as if those two guys could see us.
People of all ilks & backgrounds had come together to wave at two guys on the moon.
Night workers, people just getting off their shifts, theatergoers, cops, hookers, dope slingers, taxi drivers, people waiting for the bus – we were all waving at two guys that were on the friggin’ moon!
I’ll never forget how that moment brought so many people together. And how everybody smiled at each other & high-fived each other. Right there on one of the meanest street corners in all of New York City.
It only lasted for a couple of minutes, though. Then, the traffic lights changed, buses came & went again, people got into cabs, went down into the subway or took off walking to wherever they were going.
Life went on.
But, for that one, brief, shining moment, we were all one. We were all one people. Smiling.
All because two guys were up there on the moon.
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Man in the moon 🌝 Men ON the Moon!🌜🌜