Good Evening!
Well, I just ended up taking the A Train down to 14th Street, and then walking East until I got to Union Square, and then walking back West to grab the A Train back uptown. In the meanwhile, I stopped into The Virgin Megastore - surprise, surprise - and picked some classical and jazz discs I've been reading about. Then it was over to New York Costume to visit a friend of mine who's working their "Holiday Shift" for a while.
New York Costume is HUGE!!! The store spans the whole block, and the clerks(!) even give out maps to the store. And, yes, it was a virtual madhouse. However, my friend told me that on weekends, the line to get in starts forming about an hour before they open. Now that's busy! Of course, with Halloween coming up they're pretty swamped right now, but they also do a big Santa Suit business as well as rent costumes to many of the TV shows that film in NYC (SNL, various soap operas, etc.). In any case...
I had a good visit with my friend, Geff, between his "bouts" of customer service. And, boy, did he have some characters/customers. I happened to meet one of his regulars who apparently has been buying at least one little costume accessory each day for the past couple of years. Today he was checking out the the stuff in the "Pirate's Cove". The mind boggles at just how "stuff" this gentleman has in his apartment.