The Ghost that Haunted the Basement
By Thomas Pryor
As a boy in the early 1960s, I’d go up to my grandmother’s second floor apartment on York Avenue several times a week. Her hallway was lit by one low-watt, exposed bulb. The dark hall frightened me. Sometimes my fear was compounded when I’d hear fuzzy radio sounds coming from the usually locked basement. I assumed it was a foreign station, maybe German based on the marching music, waltzes and the announcer’s accent. I told my grandmother.
“You’re hearing things,” she said
“What’s down the basement?” I asked.
“Nothing and it’s none of your business.”
I choose to believe her because I had no courage or interest in going down the cellar to investigate. I began taking the single flight of stairs in four long jumps to get into the apartment as fast as I could. I never looked back.
Over the years, the radio echoes from the cellar were there on and off. In 1964, my grandfather died, and I began to stay over at my grandmother’s on the weekend. The noisy avenue was right outside our front window. I was a light sleeper. Lying awake at night, I would hear odd pacing throughout the apartment. My ears perked up like Nipper the RCA dog, as dread sharpens my hearing. Through the airshaft next to my bed, I heard a man talking to himself. Based on my movie knowledge, he sounded German. He spoke rapidly with quick pauses as if he was reading a list of pressing things to do. I didn’t move a muscle. The old lady above us spoke in a whisper, lived alone and walked with a cane. It was a waste of time to check in with my no-nonsense grandmother.
“You’re hearing things,” she’d say. Eventually I’d fall back to sleep or it’d get light outside and chase my terror away.
In 1977, my parents bought a house after a lifetime of apartment living and had extra space to place new things. The day they moved in, I noticed Dad carrying a wide chair.
“Dad, what’s that?”
“It’s a love seat.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From your grandmother.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“It was stored in her cellar.”
“Huh?”
“It belonged to someone else who never retrieved it.”
Dad told me a story. When his father, my grandfather, contracted late-stage tuberculosis in the mid 1930s, Mr. Volk, the German man upstairs, cared for Dad’s family, bringing them food and fetching a doctor when one of them was sick. After my grandfather died in February 1941, Mr. Volk gave my grandmother a couple of dollars anytime she was short. As a thankful gesture, my grandmother invited Mr. Volk in for coffee at the kitchen table. While Dad spoke I pictured this with ease, because I had seen my grandmother do the same thing hundreds of times in my lifetime. She was strict but kind.
In mid-1942, Mr. Volk knocked on my grandmother’s door. With his hat clutched in his hands, he greeted her urgently, “Mrs. Pryor, how are you? You work hard. I have something to ask, it is difficult. You know I’ve been good to your family. When your husband was ill and after he passed, I care for you and your sons like they’re my own. Immigration came yesterday and said I’m being deported in two weeks. There are problems with my papers. I have one chance to stay; I must be married and do it quickly. I ask you because I trust you to trust me that this is purely so I can stay. I’m desperate!”
My grandmother paused, took a deep breath and politely turned Mr. Volk down. He didn’t grow angry; he thanked my grandmother for her kindnesses and asked her a favor.
“Would you take care of my love seat until I return after the war? It belonged to my parents.”
She agreed to care for it and felt obligated to store it safely to avoid damage until Mr. Volk’s return. The love seat sat in the cellar of 1582 York Avenue from 1942 until 1977. It’s in my living room today. I hear no voices. Mr. Volk is at peace.
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Thomas Pryor runs the radio show “Yorkville Stoops to Nuts.” He can be contacted at yorkvillestoopstonuts.blogspot.com.
Business Owners Protest Second Ave. Subway Impact
By Laura Shin
East Side merchants and local residents gathered at 91st Street on the afternoon of Oct. 24 to protest the negative impact of Second Avenue Subway construction on their businesses and the community.
“It’s all I have. I cannot give up my life,” said Tae Shin, owner of Eve’s Nail Salon and a Subway franchise between 92nd and 93rd streets. Read more
Ghosts of the Upper East Side
History prof. delves into haunted history of neighborhood
“There are ghosts everywhere,” Dr. Philip Ernest Schoenberg said. “And the Upper East Side has just as many as anywhere else.”
The history professor, dressed in a worn top hat and rumpled coat, stood in the darkening gloom during a recent rainy evening, as he talked through some of the more well-known haunts of the UES. Read more
Preparing for the Worst
Abdul Kaid’s job is to protect the residents of the 35-story office building where he works
Abdul Kaid, 44, the building fire safety and emergency action plan director for 1350 Sixth Avenue, has to be prepared in case of the worst.
The Yemen native, who moved to the states in 1984, oversees all safety complaints for the 35-story office building, including making sure that the office’s residents are ready for everything from fires to manmade threats to natural disasters.
“It’s a big responsibility and I like the challenge of it,” he said. “No matter what the situation, I can’t show any signs of panic. The people here expect me to stay calm and guide them to safety in case something unexpected happens.” Read more
Trading Recklessness for God and Longevity
Abram makes sure that workers have clear view of famous skyline
By Patrick Wall
In his sermons, Marvin Abram is fond of saying that he’s closer to God than most folks.
Churchgoers who know the pastor’s day job understand: Monday through Friday, Abram is a window cleaner in the Financial District and Midtown, where he’s been shining part of the world’s most famous skyline since he was 22 years old. Read more
Stadium Cleaner Meets the World at the Garden
Dominguez rubs shoulders with celebrities and keeps famous Event Center running
Rosa Dominguez, 50, has done it all in her 17 years as a stadium cleaner at Madison Square Garden. She has been a custodian and an elevator operator, vacuumed the floors of the famous event center and hobnobbed with musicians such as Jay Z, Shakira and sports legends like Mohammad Ali. Read more
Head Porter Has Wicked Job
Crawford makes sure that the show goes on
Kirth Crawford was getting off the subway 13 years ago when a gust of wind blew his newspaper out of his hand and open to the classified section.
“I saw that Disney was hiring, so I called them and went in for an interview,” said Crawford, 40.
Crawford began by selling T-shirts for the Disney production of Aida at the Palace Theatre and eventually started filling in for housekeeping porters. Crawford moved to the Gershwin Theatre when Wicked opened seven years ago. Two years after he started working at the Gershwin, Crawford was promoted to head porter. Read more
Building’s ‘Front of the House’ Also a Weatherman
A doorman who knows everyone’s name
One day, Carol Giordano struggled against a robust wind.
“I’m disabled,” she said. “I walk with a cane. I had papers in my hand. Of course they flew everywhere.”
Enter Louis Rios, 59, doorman since 1974, and all-around Good Samaritan.
“There he was,” said Giordano. “Running after the papers. I didn’t expect it. It was so kind.” Read more
Dominican finds friends and celebration at Yeshiva
Key for Taveras’ success comes in support from his family
For security guard Louis Taveras, a day’s work would not be complete without the support of his family. Taveras, a 32-year-old resident of West Harlem, is married with two children and gives his family much credit and appreciation for receiving this award.
“Sometimes it’s not enough that you be committed to do things. You have to put your whole family into it,” he said. “You try to sit down with your family and your wife to try to push them to support you in whatever you’re doing—and I think that’s the key for it.” Read more
Organizer Keeps City Supervisors Off-Guard
HPD security guard earns love but some ‘hate’ for his union successes
At 48 years old, Chaitu Heamenchal is a husband, father and a man with a passion for organizing. In 2001 he began working as a security officer at the office of Housing Preservation and Development on Gold Street. When he started at HPD, the 35 security officers he worked with had no union and very few benefits. Read more
