Tag Archives: 47th street

11:39PM

A little before midnight. Five years ago I worked at the diamond exchange of 47th Street. There are no customers on the winter solstice. Only the rich have money, Richie Boy had sold several big-money items to his wealthy friends. $260,000 for a magnificent sapphire for an investment banker, $190,000 for a stunning Fancy Yellow […]

AN XMAS EVE TALE by Peter Nolan Smith

Nine years ago the holiday sales plummeted to near-zero in New York’s Diamond District 47th Street. The Greater Depression had robbed the middle-class of their imagined wealth and jewelry purchases had been sacrificed to pay mortgages and credit card bills. America as a nation continued to suffer from the banking debacle, the collapse of the […]

SUKKOT / BET ON CRAZY

Ten years ago the Hassidim were hurrying home from the Diamond District. The High Holidays had come early this year with Sukkor coinciding with the ancient pagan festival of Mabon, which commemorates the autumnal equinox. Sukkor is not only a bridge across the Indus, but the festival honoring the 40 years during which the Hebrews […]

THIS AIN’T KANSAS / Bet On Crazy

Every morning in 2010 I checked the weather for New York City. The forecast determined my attire for the diamond exchange, especially as the seasons of September seesawed between summer and autumn. The weather bureau predicted a temperature of 75 with rain later in the afternoon. I dressed in a lightweight suit. My umbrella was […]

THE WRITING OF HISTORY by Peter Nolan Smith

The dead never come back to life and I know that since I’ve almost died on several occasions from motorcycle accidents, beatings, and chemical misjudgments, although none of these near-fatal incidents must not have been too serious, because my soul was never enveloped by the tunnel of light. When I returned to the USA from […]