IT’S CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY
New York City in December: cold, windy, filled with busy, preoccupied people. My destination is an apartment building which has been “renovated” by an ambitious landlord into what is known by far less polite names, for the apartments have been divided and subdivided until there is hardly room for more than a dresser, bed, and postage stamp sized kitchen and bathroom. It is part of my seminary training to see a lady named Mary. As I enter the apartment building I am greeted by a man seated behind a wire cage. He is the telephone operator, security man, collector of rents and assorted other odd jobs. I give him my letter from the seminary and he directs me to the third floor. I choose the stairs over the dimly lit unoccupied elevator. I knock on 306 and after three different locks are opened, Mary lets me in. The inside is even more dreary than the hall. Roaches climb…
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
