Coming out/Northeast

Quite a bit further north of Boston is Cape Ann, with a large and relatively rural feeling state beach -- this picture was taken in the winter in the early 80's. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

When I lived in Boston in the early 80's, I had a friend who had a cabin in rural Maine. The cabin was actually a farmhouse, surrounded by fields that were largely overgrown with wild blueberries. There was no running water (we bathed in a lake), toilet facilities were an outhouse, and lighting/heat was gas. The nearest neighbors were about 1/2 mile away. It would take awhile to unwind, but once you did, it was delightfully quiet. The car in the drive was my Honda. It was the first one that I had and I didn't particularly like it, so didn't buy another Honda till late 1990's, though have now had 3. Scan of a picture taken in about 1982 ( (Date is a rough guess) Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

See description with adjacent picture. Scan of a picture taken in about 1982. (Date is a rough guess) Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

See description with adjacent picture. Scan of a picture taken in about 1982 (Date is a rough guess) Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Scan from an older photo taken in the early 1980's. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

These pictures are from a trip to NYC in 2007. My first visit to NYC was in '67, but I didn't spend any time there until the mid-70's. Though the size of New York City and the thought of driving into it and then getting around it was initially intimidating, I quickly became accustomed to it in the 70's. It helped that I had a friend from Binghamton who had an apartment in the East Village and I used his place as a base for getting to realize that, if 9 million people lived there, went to work every day, and grocery shopped just like everyone else in the world does, then I shouldn't let it intimidate me. When I took these pictures, I hadn't been in Manhattan in almost 20 years, and it had changed tremendously in those years. In the 70's and early 80's, the areas I had known best (the East and West Village) looked generally rundown, with crowded, dirty mom-and-pop stores, litter and graffiti, and overall feeling of being relatively dangerous -- perfect, actually, for feeling like an adventurer learning to know and navigate a strange environment. I knew that Manhattan had been cleaned up quite a bit, but I wasn't expecting the clean streets, repaired building facades, and trendy-hip new restaurants and shops. Very much safer feeling, but somehow relatively bland feeling as well. This picture is of 3rd street where my friend's place had been. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

On the east end of the block where I used to stay (see adjacent) was the club house of the Hells Angels -- and it was still there in 2007. I learned the hard way (four flattened tires) to not park on the street in front of the club house. Somehow, in the new and safer NYC, I expect there isn't retribution for taking 'their' spaces anymore. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

And, just around the corner from where I stayed (see adjacent), was the Club Baths which is no longer there -- I believe it was in the building with the red front. Those first years in New York were key years for me in terms of learning about gay male sexuality, and how my sexuality fit in with that. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

In the 70's Christopher Street was a center of gay life (both in NYC and universally) and Tys bar was a key location in that. Gay life has largely moved elsewhere, but Tys still stands (see the sign past the pet shop).

Urban life in NYC seems to have become almost too safe. When I was regularly in NYC in the 70's and early 80's, Washington Square was a thriving mix of political protest, NYU students, street people, upscale residents of the area walking their dogs, and the homeless. Not terribly safe feeling, but very alive. While very much safer feeling now, it doesn't seem to have that old energy

Looking west from Washington Square Park. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

As much of gay life got priced out of the West Village, it moved north to Chelsea, which is about 20 blocks north. Chelsea, though, then also became upscale and so much of gay life has moved out of it as well. (When will we ever learn to not fix our neighborhoods up so much that non-gays move in, the values go up, and it becomes unaffordable for working gays?) Despite the shift in scale for Chelsea, in 2007 there was a very affordable and nice bed and breakfast in the area. It was on this block of 23rd (see the rainbow flags). Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

From all of the gentrification, I was surprised the the subway stations hadn't really changed -- though they were much cleaner, as were the trains. This is the subway station at the center of Chelsea (23rd & 7th Avenue) Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Though I never lived there, NYC became an integral part of my years in the Northeast. And, an integral part of NYC, was riding the Staten Island ferry -- riding the ferry and seeing the port traffic seemed to be a key part of my regaining the sense of the city as a center of international commerce.

Manhattan, from the Staten Island Ferry. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

That's Ellis Island in the background. Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

The Staten Island terminus Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set

Looking back towards Manhattan when approaching Staten Island Makes most sense if viewed as part of Coming Out/Northeast set