Monday, December 26, 2022 – IT IS ALWAYS FUN TO CHAT WITH OUR VISITORS
FROM THE ARCHIVES
MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2022
THE 870th EDITION
CHRISTMAS DAY
IN THE KIOSK
JUDITH BERDY
Our coloring book is available at the kiosk for $5-
It is Christmas day and a good day to be in the kiosk and meet our visitors. I do not know what to expect since the temperature is about 20 degrees out.
Just as I approach the kiosk a couple is looking at the RIOC map sign and I invite tme into the kiosk to defrost. The woman, Alette is almost 90 years old with her 19 year old grandson, Jonathan. They are from Montreaux, Switzerland and are here for a week’s vacation. They sit down to warm up, though the kiosk has not warmed up yet to a frosty 50 degrees. We chat and discover Jonathan is studying and working at the Montreaux Jazz Festival working rigging and lighting every summer. His English is great and Alette is used to walking the mountain trails of Switzerland.
They are lots of fun and after a half hour decide to ride the red bus around the island.
Marie, a young woman from College Park, Maryland joins me and we chat about restaurants and customer service, since she works in a Japanese Restaurant. Her friends soon arrive, three grad students from Maryland and they are off to explore the island.
A young couple come in and we chat. They are Greek and seek instructions to Astoria for some good “home” cooking. She is a nursery school teacher and he a tech teacher in London. We have a few laughs of British cooking and they are definitely ready for Astoria.
A family from Dubai come into the kiosk, yes Dubai. Mom, dad and 3 kids. The are nearly frozen and we chat so they can warm up. One son is definitely under the weather and the family has already visited Duane Read. He is completely bundled and masked up. I am sure he really wanted to be under the covers. The family is from Pakistan and have lived over 20 years in the Middle East. The teen age daughter has been directing her family’s itinerary including the Met and MOMA. She wants to go into design and has a list of must-sees for her family. One the way out we present a I Love NY baseball for the son, though it is not a cricket ball. it will be a great New York souvenir. The family has decided that this is the last trip to New York in winter.
Other families enter the kiosk, many asking for a restroom. We do not have the coffee maker on today since using it will probably blow out our fragile electrical system.
We sell some pairs of gloves and not much else. We notice that the majority of our visitors are from tropical climates, such as Malaga,Spain, California, Florida and warmer places. Most wanted a little less of the freeze they had been experiencing here.
At 4 p.m. my feet are frozen and time to head to Granny Annies for a bowl of hot French Onion Soup!
MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
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WEEKEND PHOTO
New York and Queens County Railway trolley car barn and headquarters, Northern Blvd. and 51st Street in Woodside. The building later became a garage for Queens Transit and Steinway Transit buses after the trolleys were replaced in 1939. Now it’s the site of the Tower Square shopping mall, with the two towers preserved as an entrance.
Andy Sparberg
Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)
RIHS COLORING BOOK
(C) RIHS 2016
ART- AUTUMN ASHLEY
TEXT – BOBBIE SLONEVSKY
CREATIVE- JUDITH BERDY
THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
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