Monday, March 27, 2017

March 27

On this day in 2013,  Jordan and Sally Miles, of Bellows Falls, VT travelled to New York City to see Hands on a Hardbody, the Broadway show with music by Trey Anastasio of Phish fame. Staunch supporters of the sharing economy, the young couple had arranged to stay at an Air BnB in the East New York section of Brooklyn. When their Amtrak train arrived at Grand Central Station on the night of the 27th, they used the Uber app to arrange for a ride to their lodgings. The first car assigned to them cancelled almost immediately, so they tried again. Again, the Uber driver opted to reject the trip. They were tired, and it was getting late, so they gave in and decided to stand in line at Grand Central's Yellow Taxi queue, and take a traditional cab to their destination. When their turn came, the driver of their taxi stopped as soon as he heard their destination, and informed them he could not possibly go to East New York, because it was too far, and he would never get another fare from that particular neighborhood back into the City. He offered to drop them off by one of the 8th Avenue subway stations, where they could catch the A train to East New York. Anxious to get to their Air BnB and get some sleep, they agreed. A little over an hour later, they emerged from the Liberty Avenue subway station, and looked around: a Jamaican beef patty and coco bread bakery on one corner, a beauty salon specializing in braiding and weaves on another, a bodega catty corner to that, and directly across the street? A Baptist church. Sally and Jordan looked at one another and came to the same, scary conclusion, but Sally gave voice to it first, "Honey," she said, "the real reason that driver wouldn't take us all the way here is that....this is a slum!"

The young couple slept in shifts that night, making sure one of them was always awake to ward off any intruders. The next morning, they left Air BnB duplex apartment, and checked into The Crosby Street Hotel, in SOHO. 

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