Walking back to the subway from Greenwich Village during my lunch break, the wind whistled at and over my fresh haircut. I passed Jane Street and wouldn’t you know it, this Clark Gesner song from The Electric Company somersaulted into my conscious:
Scene: A montage of New York City street signs. Soundtrack: A group of kids sing-read each as it appears.
In. Stop. Park. Walk.
Yield. Enter. Exit. One way.Jane Street. Jones Street. Park Avenue.
No right turn. No left turn. What can you do?Gas. Car wash. Subway. Don’t walk.
No parking. Tow away zone.Uptown. Downtown. First Avenue.
Home sweet home.
I never appreciated until now how much my childhood regimen of New York-based public television-viewing—not just The Electric Company but Sesame Street—would infuse my Manhattan existence with occasional bursts of barely remembered whimsy. (See also, before it gets pulled: Subway!)