IT’S AUGUST, AND TO UNDERSTAND what is going on here, you should know that in New York City and the surrounding areas, summer camp is as important to some kids and their parents as college is later on. In much of the country, the concept of summer camp isn’t that well known but in New York, it’s big stuff. They are part of our culture.

Since I went to Hunter (then in the Bronx), Bronx House Emanuel Camps was the place where I was socialized and met a lot of life-long friends. Working there, first as a bunk counselor and then as a head counselor, was my first big responsibility and a crucial part of my maturation process. The director of that camp, Aaron Mitrani, was the wisest man I ever knew, bar none. I grew up in Manhattan and Fire Island but when it was time to move on to something different, camp provided that opportunity.

In any case, all hell recently broke loose in New York City in some orthodox Jewish communities where summer camp had been sacrosanct for years. Kids and their parents were out in the streets, protesting the ban on camps. I get it—it’s yet another one of the many institutions that have been profoundly and unhappily affected by the pandemic. It almost always comes down to protecting human lives versus giving people what they may want. College students want colleges to reopen. Ditto all those who want to see their kids back in elementary and high school. Read more…

IN THESE TIMES OF COVID-19 people are trying their best to survive. One way is to get out of town and in this case, town means the big cities and specifically New York. This is a real estate happy dream in the suburbs and in out-of-the-way vacation places like Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where I live.

The basis of all wars is territory, as in, “Take one step over this line and I’ll kill you.” This is nothing new—you read it all the time. It is not surprising that when there are fairly mass migrations from the city to other places, there will be resentments. There is a story that made the rounds in my town a few years back that someone was allegedly heard to say in a loud voice, “I wish the townspeople would remember to stay away on weekends. This is our time.” People swear that actually happened. This is the stuff of legends and goes a long way toward explaining some of the new resentments.

One relative newcomer, for example, is all bent out of shape that someone was illegally keeping chickens and, more importantly, a rooster. Can you imagine a Manhattanite who has lived so long with the constant sirens of ambulances and police cars blowing off steam about a rooster crowing and inadvertently waking her early in the morning? Read more…