December 4, 2025 • 38 mins
At the Tompkins Square Park Dog Halloween Parade we met an absolute NYC icon named Drake, a woman so unmistakably New York she could have only been born of this city’s chaos and charm. What is more New York than wandering the streets, spotting the most fabulous stranger, and immediately interviewing her?
Then it got even better. Our friend was watching the pod and realized the iconic woman we met was the same person he had just sold a vacuum to in his building. Only in this city does your random dog-parade queen also become your friend’s neighbor.
Tune in for a true New Yorker highlight with the fabulous Garnitz, a NYC stranger who instantly felt like our best friend in the making.
Love us? Hate us? Keep in touch!
Check us out (yes, literally!) on YouTube: Watch Now
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And if you've fallen head over heels for us (and who could blame you?), show us some love on Instagram too:
Hanna Gerlander: @hanna_gerlander
Nora Fried: @norafriedcomedy
Sean Curley - Production Manager and Video Editor: @therealseancurley
Special Guest: Drake G. (she has no IG... so cool)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
Oh well, well, look what the catdragged in this.
Is a if you are for some reason behind on your episode and
you're listening right from the last one to this next one.
Yeah. Like, you're really hearing like
there's only been a minute in between.
Yeah, like, we wrapped up. I peed.
And there's. Here we are.
Let me make sure we're filming. Sorry guys.
(00:37):
We have an amazing guest on today Who?
We do, and we kind of had a little spoiler for her that we
didn't even know it was a teaser.
What? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, with the Momdani dog. So we met this woman at Tompkins
Square Park. Halloween Dog Parade, costume
(00:59):
party, whatever you want. To call it, that's the full
name. And she really stuck out to us
because she had dressed up her dogs as with a little sweater
that said dogs from mom Donnie. And she had the shirt, too.
And she had the shirt too, and she's wearing a little.
Yeah. And they, yeah, yeah.
And they both were in just like.Red and black and this really
(01:21):
cute little dog. And she was just giving this
energy of like a true New Yorker.
And I was like, who the fuck is this woman?
And so then I post it and then my friend Nick, he's like,
that's my neighbor. Which is already.
Crazy. And I'm like, what?
And then he's like, yeah, I justsold her a vacuum on Facebook
(01:41):
Marketplace. That's amazing.
And I was like, we can talk to her about that.
I was like, go downstairs right now or upstairs, I'm assuming
upstairs and get her informationfor me.
And he was like, what, Nora, I really don't.
Why did he really do that? And that's what he did.
That's amazing. And I was like, get her
information and then he got it and then now she's coming on the
(02:02):
pod with. Her and at first we didn't reach
out and she was like talking to your friend.
Like she was like you want. My contact info and I get that.
Yeah, so I'm, we really don't know this woman that well at
all. And I've tried to look up
information on her and there's really nothing out there.
So. So we're going to learn with you
guys on who this woman is. But she is such a quintessential
(02:25):
New York City lady. And she looked so chic and cool
that we could not not have her on the pod.
Yeah, and like seeing her and the I think she was also the
last person with a dog that we filmed that day.
Yeah, she just. Was like, there's no more dogs
and. Remember I said to you, Hannah?
I was like, I was like, that's the one.
That's her. That's the one like that'll be
the breakout strong. And I want to be really clear
(02:47):
that every that I, I don't want to, I don't want anyone famous
coming out here anymore. OK.
I feel maybe sometimes if they're interested that could be
good. I want the people of New York
City. I do as well.
And you, you know that I feel more comfortable with the people
(03:09):
of New York City than I do interviewing celebrities.
And I feel like not. It's not all about us, but it is
if. The celebrity insists on coming
on. We'll let them have them on like
I really like. I want the people to shine.
Yeah, So. And that was the.
Point of this yes, it was not for this.
(03:29):
Let they have their shine. And so, with that in mind, I
hope everyone enjoys this beautiful episode.
What? Was that 2 minutes?
It was like 3 minutes. It was like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, like intro andyou think it's A and with that,
no, I'm just kidding. We can, I mean.
Yeah, we can vamp. I never know.
I don't know what the people want.
(03:51):
I mean, you know how I feel likewhen I listen to podcasts.
If I have my people, I want as much as them as possible.
But then of course, I listen to the interview as well.
I don't know how people feel. Maybe they're like, we want to
meet this lady. Wrap it up, girls.
Shut the fuck. Shut the fuck.
Up, you stupid fish. We don't want to hear.
It from you. We don't want to hear from you
anymore. I guess that's how people
probably feel if they're listening because their friend
(04:12):
is on and they're listening to the intro and we're like
Googling stuff into the mic. Like who's Jimmy Gadig?
They're like, OK, we need to getoh, he.
Was a good one. He was a good one.
He was a good one. That was the highlight of the
last last week's. Episode.
I really didn't know anything about him.
Really. That's embarrassing.
I can't believe I thought I didn't know anything about him
and I knew all about him. I knew he was the peanut farmer.
(04:34):
I knew the people loved him. I knew when he passed I was
like, oh, he's dead. It's like you knew he was dead,
Anna. I need to read a book about
every president. OK, that's a.
Good goal. Awesome.
Have you? Started Do you have goals for
next year yet or not yet? So we're still working through
some goals that I have this year.
I'm trashing this year. Really.
(04:54):
Yeah, because my goals were insane.
They were like when you find thetime, save $10,000 like and get
out of student loan debt. And he was like, let's me to be
more realistic. And I found this woman online
who gave was sharing her template.
And then I came up with some of my own things as well.
So for 2026, I'm going to have two big goals and then I'm gonna
(05:16):
have little tiny quarter goals, OK?
Like if I love it, it can stay in my year in my life.
If not, just try it up for 1/4, OK.
And like so easy, like quarter one, read a book.
Like that's it. And it's like, OK, you read a
book that's great and it's like,and if you love it, read more
books. But it's like, or like quarter
one, you're gonna drink this much water every day.
Like OK, really tiny goal. Quarter for a whole quarter.
(05:38):
For the whole quarter. Wow.
So it's like really tiny goals for each quarter and then big
goals for the year. That's a big.
Goal to drink a certain amount of for 1/4.
I don't think that's. Like 3 months every day, yeah.
You don't feel like you are to just drink a lot of water, I
thought there. Was some days that I have, you
know, some days I'm. I feel like I drink the same
amount of water every day. OK, OK.
(05:59):
And then you have to have fun goals like things that are not
not stressful. Like I'm going to, I'm going to
plan a birthday party for myself.
I'm going to leave the country once.
I'm going to go visit my mom 2 times.
Like fun things you can look forward to all year.
And then she was like, you got to keep track of behavior.
Who am I jealous of and how can I be like them instead of being
(06:19):
jealous of them? Who makes me feel really good
after I see them? And what habits do I have that
slow me down? I really hope I'm in the second.
So this is my this is. I haven't filled anything out
other than my big goals, of course.
OK, but and two of my fun goals are already in.
What are your big goals? My big goal Next year in 2026, I
want to perform my solo show andrun the marathon.
(06:41):
Now those are. My wow for next year.
And what I love about those goals is there two goals I'm
doing alone Because I feel like my theme this year is I'm never
alone. So I for 2026 I would like to do
2 very big things alone. And then I have to think of my
little goals and then my fun goals.
So far, just my trip to Puerto Rico and January and then
(07:03):
Florence and the Machine with Ryan in April.
Wow and. That's what I'm working on.
So I'm kind of now that I've gotthat going scratch this year,
you know, we're just kind of we got to.
Get it? I didn't realize you wanted to
run the marathon. Yeah, I've wanted to since last
year. It was kind of like a little bit
of an itch I had. Yeah.
And then it kind of felt really out of reach, but being around
(07:25):
Katie and Brian. You're like I can do.
This I can do this. I saw they're not only can I do
it like because it was like easywatching them train, but it was
like, all right, if you train and prep like and then here's
how you would do it and this is how you get in and this is how
you prepare. It was kind of like if you
wanted to do it, It's not like aimpossible thing, totally you.
Could do it. You can definitely do it.
I can't wait to cheer you on. I'm very I'm very to make a
(07:48):
really cool. Sign, but that's why I need to
go to the physical. Therapist.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We got to get you to get this
fixed. I can't wait to make my sign
start. Thinking for your.
Solo show too. I'll bring a sign.
That's perfect. I'll bring the similar signs.
Yeah, yeah. You can make one.
Sign one sign and then you flip it.
And you can bring it to the birthday party too.
You could just use it all year. That'll be so fun to have.
(08:09):
Like I've always had friends. I mean, they're, they're
definitely people that I'm closewith, but not like, actually
that's not true. Kala runs and I'm, I'm really
close with her, but like, I don't know, just having a friend
who's like never run before, who's going to run, that's going
to really, really be nice. It was really exciting this
year, like waiting to like see like Brian and Katie.
So that's nice. I'm excited.
(08:30):
So yeah. That's that's why I'm like, you
got Coles for next year. Yeah, 'cause I'm, I'm bumping
that, I'm getting that ready. I'm bumping that, I'm bumping
that, bumping that. We were talking about BRAT
today. Yeah, I I don't know what my
goals are just yet. I need to figure them out but.
That girl's video inspired me and I was like.
Let's get moving. Let's get moving.
I did buy a manifestation journal though.
(08:52):
Oh, that's really good. Yeah.
Oh, that's like some manifestations I want to bring
to life, so I'm working on that.But yeah, I have that.
That's in the mail. OK.
So we. Can't start manifesting yet.
Can't start just yet. I have a manifestation.
But I do have I have my goals from last year here.
(09:14):
Were they tangible? Yeah, I achieved most of them.
That's. Amazing.
None of mine, mine really mine were out of control.
What were your goals? Let's see here new new goals.
(09:35):
One of mine was to like achieve financial security.
Like I love my job and my job iseasy, so it's hard, but it's
like I work at a gym. Like I wasn't going to achieve
financial security this year. You you're, I don't know where
mine is now, damn it. I wrote mine down last year but
(09:57):
I think I need to have them on me.
New. Oh, no, New year.
What were you typing before? I was typing Gold Year's
resolutions, resolutions, New Year, New Year manifestation,
manifestation manifestations. Yeah, that's what it was.
(10:20):
It was, oh sorry, it was under 2025 full moon.
Manifestations. There we are.
Read 30 books. How's that going?
It's. I think I read 15.
So far, you're almost there. Just keep going.
Fucking. Travel abroad, great done start.
A book club at Rikers. Done.
(10:44):
Go to DC at least three times. How'd that go?
I. Don't know if I.
Did or not? You definitely went twice.
Have consistent healthy relationship.
OK stay sober. Yep.
Check stand up tour. Done in a way.
Be in a good spot with my job byend of year?
(11:07):
I don't know but. But we don't know yet, so it
could be done. 2024 was get a boob job.
Done. Create a large.
Following for high heels and punch lines.
The focus of the. Produced at least 2 high heels
and punch lines shows. I think that happened, yeah,
yeah. Travel abroad, do at least 10
stand up shows. I did lose 10 more pounds I
don't really know. Read 12 books so it really
(11:29):
intense to go wow 30. Really big jump, but 12 probably
felt like a walk in the park, soyou were like, let's bump it up.
Have a healthy, loving romantic relationship again.
We didn't hit that one. OK.
Create financial stability for myself slash keep my job.
Financial stability is 1. I also keep putting on and I
think I need to be more specificlike I want in my savings. 2
(11:54):
months rent. Yeah that is doable by the end
of the year. Yes, if I plan for it.
Oh. Shoot, we have to go.
We got to go, right? I love enjoy this interview
scenario. Hi, Hi.
How freaking random was that, that I'm buying a vacuum cleaner
from your friend who lives in mybuilding, who's lived here for,
(12:17):
he said eight years. And we've never seen each other
before, so. How pretty guys friends now?
We could be, yeah. Yeah, you guys should be for
sure. It's so funny.
How so? How long have you been in the
building? I have been in this building.
I moved to New York in 1993. I originally I went to drama
(12:41):
school in Chicago when I was 17 and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. I always thought I would move to
New York and then I took a wrongleft hand turn and went to LA.
So it took me a while, but I gothere in 93 and I had fallen in
love with it. The first time I came as an
adult and I came under really bizarre circumstances.
(13:03):
I had a drug dealer boyfriend who like called me in the middle
of the night and said show up. And it was also dramatic.
And I was 20 years old. I was like, OK, I will.
And. When 42nd St. was still pretty
sleazy, I saw entirely too much of it, but I still, I was like,
this is where I'm not 42nd Street, but this is where I'm
(13:25):
supposed to be. And anyway, so I've been here
since 93 and I, my best friend at the time, who's originally
from Ireland, who grew up mostlyin New York, I met her in LA,
had moved back to New York. So I'm staying with her in the
building I'm in now. She was living in this building
(13:48):
and, you know, she had somethingelse going on.
So I was going to have to stay with another friend that I
hardly knew. And she was in Queens and Queens
sounded like the end of the world to me.
I had just started dating this guy.
And this is pretty when you're looking for everything online.
And what you would do at that time is you would look for
(14:11):
apartments and anything else in the village, in the classifieds
in the Village Voice and which came out on Wednesdays.
But if you knew about it, you could go where you could find it
on a Tuesday night and get a jump on everybody.
And we're sitting on his stoop. He's on the same St. as me on
the other side of Columbus. Sit.
And I'm like, oh, no, I don't know what I'm going to do.
(14:33):
I can't go to Queens, you know? And he said, you know, that
building you're staying in. The manager owes me a favor.
And the next day I was in this building.
Oh my God. I.
Know, I know. That's amazing rotten romantic
karma, but I have great apartment karma and sometimes I
(14:56):
think that might be more beneficial.
In New York, definitely. It is, Yeah.
Wait, Drake. So just to so we introduced, we
we introduced you in a recordingbefore this, but can you tell
us? So your name is Drake, You've
been in New York, you've had this dog that's so cute.
(15:17):
What's the? Dog.
And here he is. He's in his.
I don't roll over for fascist T-shirt.
Amazing. What's the dogs name?
Bigsby. Bigsby talking to.
You also known Mr. Biggs? Mr. Biggs.
I love that. And so you've been in New York
(15:37):
since 1993 and what do you do? Like, what's your, you mentioned
acting school like. Can you tell us about your?
Career, Sure. I started out.
I was one of those kids from theage of five.
That's all I wanted to do. And I went to drama school.
And then instead of going to NewYork, I ended up in LA.
(15:58):
And I waited a lot of tables, you know, I waited a lot of
tables. I was in some weird table thing
that I never saw and some very what would be comparable to off
Off Broadway things. But mostly I waited tables and I
realized I didn't have the rightpersona for it.
(16:18):
You have to be able to, apart from anything else, you have to
be able to just turn it on and go home.
And if you get a call, great andyou turn it on again.
And if you don't, you just move on.
I couldn't do that. I just, you know, I just would
stay in bed forever. And I thought, OK, what else am
(16:43):
I any good at that I don't have to go back to school for that I
could make a living at. And the only other thing I've
ever done is right. And I thought, OK, I write short
stories, I write poetry. That's not exactly a living at
this point. So I sent away for all these
things, how to write greeting cards, blah blah blah blah blah.
(17:04):
And long story shorter, I was a Buddhist at the time.
I was on my way to the beach. I have no sense of direction,
even though I've been there a million times, went off at the
wrong exit. I'm like, OK, now there's no
parking, but everybody's at the beach.
So I can find parking for free in downtown Santa Monica by the
(17:26):
Buddhist store and get myself the incense I need.
And while that was happening, I'm walking by and I see the
shoe store, which I can't resist.
And I go in and I have a beach bag full of everything I've sent
away from how to write greeting cards, how to do this, how to do
(17:46):
that. And I go in and I start talking
to the guy who owns this little boutique, and he tells me how
much he hates selling shoes and what he wants to do is write.
And I said, really tell me aboutit.
And I dumped my beach bag. And he was like, have you ever
heard of this place called Ad Center?
So I ended up going to this place and taking some courses
(18:09):
and I wrote advertising. Oh amazing.
That's so funny. What a weird, roundabout way to
get you there. Yes, you know, I thought if I
hadn't gotten lost, if I hadn't been a Buddhist, if I didn't
love shoes so much, who knows Who knows what?
You'd be up to what you'd be doing.
Wow, that's amazing. So.
(18:30):
How has New York changed over time?
I mean, like, I'm sure you have so many cool stories.
I do. It's funny because before, right
before this, one of my close friends I've known almost since
I lived here, right. It was his niece's birthday and
(18:51):
we're talking about a mutual friend of ours who used to have
a gallery in Soho. When Soho was nothing like it is
now, right, You know, yeah, it was, it was a little dicey, but
very cool. She had this huge loft.
(19:13):
And I came in at sort of the tail end of what I think was
probably a really great era. I was, you know, so I would say
the biggest, I mean, I'll say this when when they opened up a
Kmart in the East Village, I said this is the beginning of
(19:35):
the end. That's a.
Pretty, pretty bad sign. Yeah, it was a bad sign.
It was like, I don't mind looking over my shoulder a
little bit to keep the neighborhoods like they really
are. But it's, you know, it's like
everywhere. I mean, there's some things that
are nicer, for sure. There's some things, you know, I
(19:56):
live in between Central Park andRiverside and so I'm very lucky
in a, in all that real estate kind of way.
And anyway, but when I would first walk over to the River
you, there was a like a viaduct sort of thing I'd walk under on
72nd St. and it was a little, you know, you don't want to be.
(20:19):
Even at dusk, you didn't really want to be going through.
That's completely different. And it's landscaped and it's
beautiful and I appreciate it, you know?
And there's a bike path from allthe way downtown to past Harlem,
so that's lovely. But we're paying for a lot of
that stuff in other ways, you know?
(20:40):
So that's how it's still, you know, I still can't imagine
living anywhere else. I mean, yeah, the only time I
ever thought I could was I fell in love with Paris.
I, I, I have very strong love affairs with cities, not so much
with, you know, men, but cities are, you know, right there.
(21:03):
And I fell in love with Paris. And it was the only place I've
ever wanted to live other than New York.
And at a certain point, it also,it transitioned a little later.
I was going, I was freelancing at the time, but I was working
remotely. And I had a lot of leeway
because I knew the guy well who was heading up the agency.
(21:25):
And he said, I don't care if you're here, just get the work
done. I said, well, do you care if I'm
in Paris, if I get the weird time I was doing that and I
would exchange my apartment for a month at a time, all this kind
of thing. It was, I mean, I was just, And
then when I tried to get work there as an American, you know,
really is anybody not in the EU?And and then I almost got
(21:51):
married there, which you? Almost fell in love in Paris in.
A love way I fell in love with. I fell in love.
I fell in love with Paris much you know, which was much bigger.
I used to rollerblade everywhere.
So I brought my skates and I metthis guy skating, right?
And he was gorgeous and it was the most romantic 5 days of my
(22:14):
life. And now I'm going to marry him.
And thank God I went back beforeI moved lock, stock and barrel.
I thought, you know, let's at least spend like 2 weeks solid
living together. And yeah, so.
That sounds like Barry Bradshaw.Yeah, yeah.
Going to New York, going to Paris, falling in love, coming
(22:36):
back to New York. Yes.
And then and then Paris also, you know, got gentrified in a
lot of ways, like everything is.And it made me sad, but it was
also like, I still really like it, but I don't feel as if I'm
destined to live in the wrong city.
I'm Yeah, New York is. New York is amazing.
(22:59):
I almost feel like I shouldn't say that for anybody who's
watching outside of New York. Too many new people go home.
Go home. Yeah.
Don't. It's good, it's good, but we're
set. We're OK right now.
We're good for now. We love it.
That's amazing. Oh, Mr. Bigsby.
Is he named Mr. Big because of Sex and the City or no?
No, you know, it's so funny, so many people asked me that, and
(23:23):
it just became, I mean, because he's so little and he's got this
big personality. So I just started calling Mr.
Biggs as well. But yeah, no.
That's what I thought when you said it at first.
That's why. I was like, oh, she.
Must love Sex and the City. And you know what?
I never minded when people told me that until I read about how,
you know, Chris N was kind of a predator.
And I'm like, you know, no. It's not the best.
(23:49):
But Mr. Biggs is, yeah, you are the best.
Oh my God, he's so. Cute.
And I took him to Paris the lasttime I was there and he was very
popular. Oh, Oh yeah.
Yeah, wow. And he likes to be dressed up so
you can get him a little Paris outfit.
You know, I I got him before I went.
I got him a beret. And then I thought, that's too
(24:09):
much. You know, it's like somebody
coming here and you live in New York.
Can you wear a New York T-shirt?No, no, no.
Yeah. Yeah, so and where, where, where
were you born? Were you born in?
Chicago. Oh, in Chicago.
Oh yeah, 'cause you said you were.
You've lived here since 93. OK, Very cool, Very cool.
What's it like dating in New York in the 90s and dating now?
(24:35):
Different and I'm older now so that also makes a difference.
As much as I might not like it to, it does.
But it was things just happened easier, you know, you didn't,
you didn't, you met somebody when you were out with your
(24:57):
friends at a bar. You know, you, you sometimes met
somebody literally on the street.
You met somebody while you were waiting for the subway.
Because people didn't have smartphones.
People didn't even have cell phones at that point.
Late, late 90s, good cell phones, but they weren't
smartphones, you know, So I mean, it was a it was a lot more
(25:20):
adventurous. I would say I had some great
adventures. But yeah, I met people.
I literally met this guy that I dated for a while waiting for
the subway, coming back from a party.
And we're both waiting and he was super cute.
And I don't remember who spoke first, but we ended up getting
(25:41):
we're on getting off of the samespot.
And we ended up going to this bar that had a rooftop that you
could get on to which you weren't actually supposed to go
on. But we went up there, you know,
and we're looking over the city and we're making out a little
bit. And I thought this is New York.
(26:02):
So you know, yeah, it was it wasdifferent.
It was different. I mean, I think, I think in any
big city and there's always a difference because there are
more women than men. You know, if you, if you take it
down to straight women, straightmen, there are a lot more
(26:23):
straight and there are a lot more straight women who are more
interested in a relationship. Do you know what I mean?
So I think it makes it harder onwomen, but you know, there's, if
you're going to meet, if you're going to find someone, as hard
as it may be, you certainly havemore people who probably are
(26:48):
interested in some of the thingsyou're interested in here.
Then you're, you know, it's likemy one of my brothers had lived
in New York for a while before Ilived here.
And then he moved because he hada job change.
He moved to Cleveland and he gotmarried and he's, I went there
for the wedding and he's drivingme around.
(27:08):
It was a suburb of Cleveland. He said, look, look at this, you
know, like huge home. He said, I couldn't even get a
one bedroom for that in New York.
I said, yeah, David, but it's Cleveland.
It's not New York. Exactly.
Exactly. Not there's anything wrong with
that? Yeah, you know, but it's true.
People are always trying to tellpeople in New York, like, how
(27:31):
much space they could have. It's like, OK, but I won't live
in the city. And like, that's why I'm here is
I'm not here for my apartment. I'm here.
I used to have a nice place, butI'm here for the people.
I'm here for the city. Exactly, exactly.
And I just really lucked out because so I broke up with this
guy a few months later and he never, he gave me for it.
(27:52):
He's like, you used me for that apartment.
I'm like, I didn't even know. But it's rent stabilized.
I mean, I'm in it's I'm on the 19th floor and I have windows
and I mean, it's tiny, but that's fine.
And you know, I have few friendsthat came here from LA to visit
(28:15):
who are like, are you still living in that tiny apartment?
I'm like, yes, I am. They will carry me out.
Fee first, so you pay. Rent.
You're still renting. Oh yeah.
Oh wow, wow, that's. Amazing.
I, you know, at a certain point I was like, other people are
(28:36):
making a lot more money than me,but but I also also seem to be
happier than that. So not always by any means, but
I, I don't care about owning. I mean, I know you're supposed
to. I know, yeah.
It's like, why? I don't know.
Yeah, I. And it's like, maybe this is a
stupid perspective, but it's like if anything were to go
(28:57):
wrong, like if I own it, that's just on me.
Yes, I. Know right, I know.
It's like if something's wrong in my apartment, like I can
literally, I don't have to worrylike that's someone else's,
yeah. Exactly, exactly.
You call the. Super.
Yeah, they take care of it. It's not supposed to be my
problem. Where do you guys live?
(29:18):
We're in Park Slope. Oh, OK.
Yeah, yeah. I'm also in a rent stabilized
place that I'll probably live inforever so.
When you find a rent stabilized place that you love, like that's
it. That's it.
Unless there's something major to leave for you, don't leave.
Yes. And at one point, you know, I
thought, well, even if I, if I got married or moved in with
(29:41):
someone or something, this is definitely not a place big
enough for two people for more than, you know, a couple weeks
Max. I would never have given this
up, you know, because apartmentsare harder to find.
That's not quite fair. That's not, but you understand
(30:03):
what I'm saying? No, totally.
Totally. I just, I just moved this time
last year and it was like we, welucked out with the place we
ended up finding, but it was like, and I was with my
boyfriend, we almost broke up. Like it's the worst process
trying to move in New York. Like it's so hard to find a
place that checks all your boxes.
Like you have to give something up.
(30:24):
Oh, definitely, definitely. You know, so I, I, yeah, I feel
incredibly lucky and and I have what other people call a ledge,
but I call a balcony. You just go, you go out through
the window, you know, and it's wide enough that you can put
like a little beach chair, not one of this.
(30:45):
And it's stretches the length ofmy apartment.
And I thought, oh, wouldn't it be great to have a Margarita
party here? Just bring a bunch of chairs and
people could pass the, you know,the blender of margaritas back
and forth and we could drop the chips back and forth.
And people were like, you can't do that.
But I did. It was so much.
(31:07):
Fun. There were like 20 people on my
quote UN quote. On your.
Ledge, I love that. That's that's so New York like
this is what I got. This is my balcony.
So come on over. We're.
Gonna come on over balcony what we're doing.
I love that. And who?
So yeah, who's your crew in New York?
Like, who do you hang out with? What types of people do you?
(31:28):
Hang out with you know, it's it's mixed.
I hang out with people from likedifferent parts of my life.
My best friend who was the one who used to live in this
building, now she and her boyfriend own a place like 6
blocks away. So that's great.
I spend a lot of time with her. I have guy friends that I've met
(31:49):
along the way. The one whose niece's birthday I
was at, I met him. I moved here in 93.
I probably met him in 94, you know, So I met him through
another friend. So there's that group, and then
there's like, I become friends with the woman who started
(32:10):
teaching me French, you know? So then there's her group and
people that I worked with at different places, you know,
different artists. So I'm still write for, I still
write, I freelance, and I'm working on a collection of short
stories. And we'll see where that goes.
(32:30):
And that's so. Exciting.
So. Yeah, so some of my closest
artist friends have moved and I was sure for a couple of them,
like one of them moved to LA I'mlike, you're not going to like
it. But he's he likes it.
He likes. It you never hear that if people
(32:50):
love New York, you never hear they also love LA.
Yeah. I mean, it's OK, but yeah, no.
Wow, I love that I've never. Been.
I just feel like I wouldn't likeit that LA.
Yeah, I've never been to LA. Oh wow, yeah.
It's like. It's, I mean, it's different.
You just can't walk anywhere. You can't walk anywhere you and,
(33:12):
and I learned to drive out thereand really wow.
I, I apparently was terrible at it.
I mean, I, I thought I got to the point where I was mediocre,
but at one point I was started dating somebody that I knew from
back there. And this is pre Uber, you know,
and so everybody has to pick me up and take me here.
(33:34):
I don't drive anymore. I mean, I haven't driven since I
left and, and most of these people had seen me drive.
So I said, you know, not I'm coming back more often because
I'm coming, you know, to see himand you guys too.
So maybe I should take a couple lessons to get a driver's
license again. And every one of them separately
said to me, no, don't do that, we'll pick you up.
(33:59):
I'm like, didn't I get to be just sort of snow?
He was. OK at this.
He was OK at this. That's like, every time I go
home, I'm worse at driving. Yeah.
And when I left, like every timemy mom's in the car with me,
she's like, next time I have to drive, I'm like you're.
From originally. I'm from Connecticut, OK, and I
learned to drive in Connecticut.My dad taught me in a cemetery,
(34:20):
which I don't know. Oh.
My goodness. That's where he thought we would
be OK, and I felt like I was such a good driver in high
school. Every time I go home now, which
is I've, I've been here for a while, I've been here for like
11 years, but every time I go home like I'm worse, I'm faster,
I'm hitting curves, I'm missing stop signs.
Like really? Because in New York, you're when
(34:40):
you're walking, you're looking all around.
Right. But you can't.
And you're dashing in between cars.
It's like, yeah, yeah, You're like, you're just.
Doing your own thing. But you can't do that when
you're driving, obviously, no. No, you can't.
Got pulled over once, I thought what I did was OK but there was
a pregnant woman with a baby carrot I was nowhere near.
(35:03):
Her. I believe she was fine, but
apparently I still should not have gone and.
I love that. And that's what it's like when I
drive. Yeah.
So Drake, we we like to do this thing with our guests and we're
going to be like wrapping up kind of soon because we have a
couple minutes left, but we wantto hear your most New York
(35:26):
moment of the week. But it I feel like for you, we
could say ever, right, like justin time.
So it could be like, you know. Like that Margarita Ledge party,
like New York moment, like there's.
Something that's only in New York.
What would you say yours is? There's so many things, OK, OK,
(35:47):
this is this is a New York thingto me.
It's not, it's not a crazy moment or any of that, which I
could name. But you in New York, you know,
you live in New York and, and there's guys that sell fruits
and vegetables on most on a lot of the corners, right?
And there's a guy that sells fruit and vegetables on corner
(36:11):
of 68th and Columbus. And he's my favorite guy.
So I only go to him And he, his name's Celine.
And I realized at one point he has a whole fan club on the
Upper West Side. He's so sweet and cute that
people did you know, it's Celine's birthday?
I'm like, no, I didn't. I'd go to Magnolia.
I'd get him a cupcake. I love that he.
(36:32):
Loves Bigsby, so a lot of times I'll take Bigsby buy just to you
know, just to say hello, you don't have buying anything.
And he's like, oh, you made my day.
So Bigsby got but was sick this past week.
He had a little something. And I told Salim and he was
like, I will pray for him. And I thought that is, you know,
(36:54):
it's it's I don't know where he's I think he's from Morocco.
I don't know. I'm sure he's Muslim.
I will pray for him. I love him, it was just that
doesn't happen in our life. That's really sweet.
It's really special. So sweet, I love that.
Well, we definitely need to stayin touch.
(37:15):
Thank you guys. It was such a pleasure and it
was all such a fluke. It's great.
I. Love this was so special.
This was very New York, how we all got together.
Like Facebook? Marketplace, yeah.
And your friend, who I'd never seen before and apparently lived
in this building for eight yearsand now is moving.
I mean this. Is moving.
(37:36):
Oh no. Wow.
Oh well, I mean, yeah, you you guys should definitely hang out
while. While you're there, now everyone
knows a unit's opening up in a nice apartment.
Yes, you've. Read the word.
All right, you guys. Thank you so much.
Yeah. Thank you, it was so nice to see
(37:56):
you again. It was so good.
To see you, Hopefully there'll be more Halloween parades.
Yes, yes. Dogs.
We'll find you next year. OK.
Bye. All right, bye.
Oh well, well, look what the catdragged in this.
Is a if you are for some reason behind on your episode and
you're listening right from the last one to this next one.
Yeah. Like, you're really hearing like
there's only been a minute in between.
Yeah, like, we wrapped up. I peed.
And there's. Here we are.
Let me make sure we're filming. Sorry guys.
(00:37):
We have an amazing guest on today Who?
We do, and we kind of had a little spoiler for her that we
didn't even know it was a teaser.
What? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, with the Momdani dog. So we met this woman at Tompkins
Square Park. Halloween Dog Parade, costume
(00:59):
party, whatever you want. To call it, that's the full
name. And she really stuck out to us
because she had dressed up her dogs as with a little sweater
that said dogs from mom Donnie. And she had the shirt, too.
And she had the shirt too, and she's wearing a little.
Yeah. And they, yeah, yeah.
And they both were in just like.Red and black and this really
(01:21):
cute little dog. And she was just giving this
energy of like a true New Yorker.
And I was like, who the fuck is this woman?
And so then I post it and then my friend Nick, he's like,
that's my neighbor. Which is already.
Crazy. And I'm like, what?
And then he's like, yeah, I justsold her a vacuum on Facebook
(01:41):
Marketplace. That's amazing.
And I was like, we can talk to her about that.
I was like, go downstairs right now or upstairs, I'm assuming
upstairs and get her informationfor me.
And he was like, what, Nora, I really don't.
Why did he really do that? And that's what he did.
That's amazing. And I was like, get her
information and then he got it and then now she's coming on the
(02:02):
pod with. Her and at first we didn't reach
out and she was like talking to your friend.
Like she was like you want. My contact info and I get that.
Yeah, so I'm, we really don't know this woman that well at
all. And I've tried to look up
information on her and there's really nothing out there.
So. So we're going to learn with you
guys on who this woman is. But she is such a quintessential
(02:25):
New York City lady. And she looked so chic and cool
that we could not not have her on the pod.
Yeah, and like seeing her and the I think she was also the
last person with a dog that we filmed that day.
Yeah, she just. Was like, there's no more dogs
and. Remember I said to you, Hannah?
I was like, I was like, that's the one.
That's her. That's the one like that'll be
the breakout strong. And I want to be really clear
(02:47):
that every that I, I don't want to, I don't want anyone famous
coming out here anymore. OK.
I feel maybe sometimes if they're interested that could be
good. I want the people of New York
City. I do as well.
And you, you know that I feel more comfortable with the people
(03:09):
of New York City than I do interviewing celebrities.
And I feel like not. It's not all about us, but it is
if. The celebrity insists on coming
on. We'll let them have them on like
I really like. I want the people to shine.
Yeah, So. And that was the.
Point of this yes, it was not for this.
(03:29):
Let they have their shine. And so, with that in mind, I
hope everyone enjoys this beautiful episode.
What? Was that 2 minutes?
It was like 3 minutes. It was like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, like intro andyou think it's A and with that,
no, I'm just kidding. We can, I mean.
Yeah, we can vamp. I never know.
I don't know what the people want.
(03:51):
I mean, you know how I feel likewhen I listen to podcasts.
If I have my people, I want as much as them as possible.
But then of course, I listen to the interview as well.
I don't know how people feel. Maybe they're like, we want to
meet this lady. Wrap it up, girls.
Shut the fuck. Shut the fuck.
Up, you stupid fish. We don't want to hear.
It from you. We don't want to hear from you
anymore. I guess that's how people
probably feel if they're listening because their friend
(04:12):
is on and they're listening to the intro and we're like
Googling stuff into the mic. Like who's Jimmy Gadig?
They're like, OK, we need to getoh, he.
Was a good one. He was a good one.
He was a good one. That was the highlight of the
last last week's. Episode.
I really didn't know anything about him.
Really. That's embarrassing.
I can't believe I thought I didn't know anything about him
and I knew all about him. I knew he was the peanut farmer.
(04:34):
I knew the people loved him. I knew when he passed I was
like, oh, he's dead. It's like you knew he was dead,
Anna. I need to read a book about
every president. OK, that's a.
Good goal. Awesome.
Have you? Started Do you have goals for
next year yet or not yet? So we're still working through
some goals that I have this year.
I'm trashing this year. Really.
(04:54):
Yeah, because my goals were insane.
They were like when you find thetime, save $10,000 like and get
out of student loan debt. And he was like, let's me to be
more realistic. And I found this woman online
who gave was sharing her template.
And then I came up with some of my own things as well.
So for 2026, I'm going to have two big goals and then I'm gonna
(05:16):
have little tiny quarter goals, OK?
Like if I love it, it can stay in my year in my life.
If not, just try it up for 1/4, OK.
And like so easy, like quarter one, read a book.
Like that's it. And it's like, OK, you read a
book that's great and it's like,and if you love it, read more
books. But it's like, or like quarter
one, you're gonna drink this much water every day.
Like OK, really tiny goal. Quarter for a whole quarter.
(05:38):
For the whole quarter. Wow.
So it's like really tiny goals for each quarter and then big
goals for the year. That's a big.
Goal to drink a certain amount of for 1/4.
I don't think that's. Like 3 months every day, yeah.
You don't feel like you are to just drink a lot of water, I
thought there. Was some days that I have, you
know, some days I'm. I feel like I drink the same
amount of water every day. OK, OK.
(05:59):
And then you have to have fun goals like things that are not
not stressful. Like I'm going to, I'm going to
plan a birthday party for myself.
I'm going to leave the country once.
I'm going to go visit my mom 2 times.
Like fun things you can look forward to all year.
And then she was like, you got to keep track of behavior.
Who am I jealous of and how can I be like them instead of being
(06:19):
jealous of them? Who makes me feel really good
after I see them? And what habits do I have that
slow me down? I really hope I'm in the second.
So this is my this is. I haven't filled anything out
other than my big goals, of course.
OK, but and two of my fun goals are already in.
What are your big goals? My big goal Next year in 2026, I
want to perform my solo show andrun the marathon.
(06:41):
Now those are. My wow for next year.
And what I love about those goals is there two goals I'm
doing alone Because I feel like my theme this year is I'm never
alone. So I for 2026 I would like to do
2 very big things alone. And then I have to think of my
little goals and then my fun goals.
So far, just my trip to Puerto Rico and January and then
(07:03):
Florence and the Machine with Ryan in April.
Wow and. That's what I'm working on.
So I'm kind of now that I've gotthat going scratch this year,
you know, we're just kind of we got to.
Get it? I didn't realize you wanted to
run the marathon. Yeah, I've wanted to since last
year. It was kind of like a little bit
of an itch I had. Yeah.
And then it kind of felt really out of reach, but being around
(07:25):
Katie and Brian. You're like I can do.
This I can do this. I saw they're not only can I do
it like because it was like easywatching them train, but it was
like, all right, if you train and prep like and then here's
how you would do it and this is how you get in and this is how
you prepare. It was kind of like if you
wanted to do it, It's not like aimpossible thing, totally you.
Could do it. You can definitely do it.
I can't wait to cheer you on. I'm very I'm very to make a
(07:48):
really cool. Sign, but that's why I need to
go to the physical. Therapist.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We got to get you to get this
fixed. I can't wait to make my sign
start. Thinking for your.
Solo show too. I'll bring a sign.
That's perfect. I'll bring the similar signs.
Yeah, yeah. You can make one.
Sign one sign and then you flip it.
And you can bring it to the birthday party too.
You could just use it all year. That'll be so fun to have.
(08:09):
Like I've always had friends. I mean, they're, they're
definitely people that I'm closewith, but not like, actually
that's not true. Kala runs and I'm, I'm really
close with her, but like, I don't know, just having a friend
who's like never run before, who's going to run, that's going
to really, really be nice. It was really exciting this
year, like waiting to like see like Brian and Katie.
So that's nice. I'm excited.
(08:30):
So yeah. That's that's why I'm like, you
got Coles for next year. Yeah, 'cause I'm, I'm bumping
that, I'm getting that ready. I'm bumping that, I'm bumping
that, bumping that. We were talking about BRAT
today. Yeah, I I don't know what my
goals are just yet. I need to figure them out but.
That girl's video inspired me and I was like.
Let's get moving. Let's get moving.
I did buy a manifestation journal though.
(08:52):
Oh, that's really good. Yeah.
Oh, that's like some manifestations I want to bring
to life, so I'm working on that.But yeah, I have that.
That's in the mail. OK.
So we. Can't start manifesting yet.
Can't start just yet. I have a manifestation.
But I do have I have my goals from last year here.
(09:14):
Were they tangible? Yeah, I achieved most of them.
That's. Amazing.
None of mine, mine really mine were out of control.
What were your goals? Let's see here new new goals.
(09:35):
One of mine was to like achieve financial security.
Like I love my job and my job iseasy, so it's hard, but it's
like I work at a gym. Like I wasn't going to achieve
financial security this year. You you're, I don't know where
mine is now, damn it. I wrote mine down last year but
(09:57):
I think I need to have them on me.
New. Oh, no, New year.
What were you typing before? I was typing Gold Year's
resolutions, resolutions, New Year, New Year manifestation,
manifestation manifestations. Yeah, that's what it was.
(10:20):
It was, oh sorry, it was under 2025 full moon.
Manifestations. There we are.
Read 30 books. How's that going?
It's. I think I read 15.
So far, you're almost there. Just keep going.
Fucking. Travel abroad, great done start.
A book club at Rikers. Done.
(10:44):
Go to DC at least three times. How'd that go?
I. Don't know if I.
Did or not? You definitely went twice.
Have consistent healthy relationship.
OK stay sober. Yep.
Check stand up tour. Done in a way.
Be in a good spot with my job byend of year?
(11:07):
I don't know but. But we don't know yet, so it
could be done. 2024 was get a boob job.
Done. Create a large.
Following for high heels and punch lines.
The focus of the. Produced at least 2 high heels
and punch lines shows. I think that happened, yeah,
yeah. Travel abroad, do at least 10
stand up shows. I did lose 10 more pounds I
don't really know. Read 12 books so it really
(11:29):
intense to go wow 30. Really big jump, but 12 probably
felt like a walk in the park, soyou were like, let's bump it up.
Have a healthy, loving romantic relationship again.
We didn't hit that one. OK.
Create financial stability for myself slash keep my job.
Financial stability is 1. I also keep putting on and I
think I need to be more specificlike I want in my savings. 2
(11:54):
months rent. Yeah that is doable by the end
of the year. Yes, if I plan for it.
Oh. Shoot, we have to go.
We got to go, right? I love enjoy this interview
scenario. Hi, Hi.
How freaking random was that, that I'm buying a vacuum cleaner
from your friend who lives in mybuilding, who's lived here for,
(12:17):
he said eight years. And we've never seen each other
before, so. How pretty guys friends now?
We could be, yeah. Yeah, you guys should be for
sure. It's so funny.
How so? How long have you been in the
building? I have been in this building.
I moved to New York in 1993. I originally I went to drama
(12:41):
school in Chicago when I was 17 and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. I always thought I would move to
New York and then I took a wrongleft hand turn and went to LA.
So it took me a while, but I gothere in 93 and I had fallen in
love with it. The first time I came as an
adult and I came under really bizarre circumstances.
(13:03):
I had a drug dealer boyfriend who like called me in the middle
of the night and said show up. And it was also dramatic.
And I was 20 years old. I was like, OK, I will.
And. When 42nd St. was still pretty
sleazy, I saw entirely too much of it, but I still, I was like,
this is where I'm not 42nd Street, but this is where I'm
(13:25):
supposed to be. And anyway, so I've been here
since 93 and I, my best friend at the time, who's originally
from Ireland, who grew up mostlyin New York, I met her in LA,
had moved back to New York. So I'm staying with her in the
building I'm in now. She was living in this building
(13:48):
and, you know, she had somethingelse going on.
So I was going to have to stay with another friend that I
hardly knew. And she was in Queens and Queens
sounded like the end of the world to me.
I had just started dating this guy.
And this is pretty when you're looking for everything online.
And what you would do at that time is you would look for
(14:11):
apartments and anything else in the village, in the classifieds
in the Village Voice and which came out on Wednesdays.
But if you knew about it, you could go where you could find it
on a Tuesday night and get a jump on everybody.
And we're sitting on his stoop. He's on the same St. as me on
the other side of Columbus. Sit.
And I'm like, oh, no, I don't know what I'm going to do.
(14:33):
I can't go to Queens, you know? And he said, you know, that
building you're staying in. The manager owes me a favor.
And the next day I was in this building.
Oh my God. I.
Know, I know. That's amazing rotten romantic
karma, but I have great apartment karma and sometimes I
(14:56):
think that might be more beneficial.
In New York, definitely. It is, Yeah.
Wait, Drake. So just to so we introduced, we
we introduced you in a recordingbefore this, but can you tell
us? So your name is Drake, You've
been in New York, you've had this dog that's so cute.
(15:17):
What's the? Dog.
And here he is. He's in his.
I don't roll over for fascist T-shirt.
Amazing. What's the dogs name?
Bigsby. Bigsby talking to.
You also known Mr. Biggs? Mr. Biggs.
I love that. And so you've been in New York
(15:37):
since 1993 and what do you do? Like, what's your, you mentioned
acting school like. Can you tell us about your?
Career, Sure. I started out.
I was one of those kids from theage of five.
That's all I wanted to do. And I went to drama school.
And then instead of going to NewYork, I ended up in LA.
(15:58):
And I waited a lot of tables, you know, I waited a lot of
tables. I was in some weird table thing
that I never saw and some very what would be comparable to off
Off Broadway things. But mostly I waited tables and I
realized I didn't have the rightpersona for it.
(16:18):
You have to be able to, apart from anything else, you have to
be able to just turn it on and go home.
And if you get a call, great andyou turn it on again.
And if you don't, you just move on.
I couldn't do that. I just, you know, I just would
stay in bed forever. And I thought, OK, what else am
(16:43):
I any good at that I don't have to go back to school for that I
could make a living at. And the only other thing I've
ever done is right. And I thought, OK, I write short
stories, I write poetry. That's not exactly a living at
this point. So I sent away for all these
things, how to write greeting cards, blah blah blah blah blah.
(17:04):
And long story shorter, I was a Buddhist at the time.
I was on my way to the beach. I have no sense of direction,
even though I've been there a million times, went off at the
wrong exit. I'm like, OK, now there's no
parking, but everybody's at the beach.
So I can find parking for free in downtown Santa Monica by the
(17:26):
Buddhist store and get myself the incense I need.
And while that was happening, I'm walking by and I see the
shoe store, which I can't resist.
And I go in and I have a beach bag full of everything I've sent
away from how to write greeting cards, how to do this, how to do
(17:46):
that. And I go in and I start talking
to the guy who owns this little boutique, and he tells me how
much he hates selling shoes and what he wants to do is write.
And I said, really tell me aboutit.
And I dumped my beach bag. And he was like, have you ever
heard of this place called Ad Center?
So I ended up going to this place and taking some courses
(18:09):
and I wrote advertising. Oh amazing.
That's so funny. What a weird, roundabout way to
get you there. Yes, you know, I thought if I
hadn't gotten lost, if I hadn't been a Buddhist, if I didn't
love shoes so much, who knows Who knows what?
You'd be up to what you'd be doing.
Wow, that's amazing. So.
(18:30):
How has New York changed over time?
I mean, like, I'm sure you have so many cool stories.
I do. It's funny because before, right
before this, one of my close friends I've known almost since
I lived here, right. It was his niece's birthday and
(18:51):
we're talking about a mutual friend of ours who used to have
a gallery in Soho. When Soho was nothing like it is
now, right, You know, yeah, it was, it was a little dicey, but
very cool. She had this huge loft.
(19:13):
And I came in at sort of the tail end of what I think was
probably a really great era. I was, you know, so I would say
the biggest, I mean, I'll say this when when they opened up a
Kmart in the East Village, I said this is the beginning of
(19:35):
the end. That's a.
Pretty, pretty bad sign. Yeah, it was a bad sign.
It was like, I don't mind looking over my shoulder a
little bit to keep the neighborhoods like they really
are. But it's, you know, it's like
everywhere. I mean, there's some things that
are nicer, for sure. There's some things, you know, I
(19:56):
live in between Central Park andRiverside and so I'm very lucky
in a, in all that real estate kind of way.
And anyway, but when I would first walk over to the River
you, there was a like a viaduct sort of thing I'd walk under on
72nd St. and it was a little, you know, you don't want to be.
(20:19):
Even at dusk, you didn't really want to be going through.
That's completely different. And it's landscaped and it's
beautiful and I appreciate it, you know?
And there's a bike path from allthe way downtown to past Harlem,
so that's lovely. But we're paying for a lot of
that stuff in other ways, you know?
(20:40):
So that's how it's still, you know, I still can't imagine
living anywhere else. I mean, yeah, the only time I
ever thought I could was I fell in love with Paris.
I, I, I have very strong love affairs with cities, not so much
with, you know, men, but cities are, you know, right there.
(21:03):
And I fell in love with Paris. And it was the only place I've
ever wanted to live other than New York.
And at a certain point, it also,it transitioned a little later.
I was going, I was freelancing at the time, but I was working
remotely. And I had a lot of leeway
because I knew the guy well who was heading up the agency.
(21:25):
And he said, I don't care if you're here, just get the work
done. I said, well, do you care if I'm
in Paris, if I get the weird time I was doing that and I
would exchange my apartment for a month at a time, all this kind
of thing. It was, I mean, I was just, And
then when I tried to get work there as an American, you know,
really is anybody not in the EU?And and then I almost got
(21:51):
married there, which you? Almost fell in love in Paris in.
A love way I fell in love with. I fell in love.
I fell in love with Paris much you know, which was much bigger.
I used to rollerblade everywhere.
So I brought my skates and I metthis guy skating, right?
And he was gorgeous and it was the most romantic 5 days of my
(22:14):
life. And now I'm going to marry him.
And thank God I went back beforeI moved lock, stock and barrel.
I thought, you know, let's at least spend like 2 weeks solid
living together. And yeah, so.
That sounds like Barry Bradshaw.Yeah, yeah.
Going to New York, going to Paris, falling in love, coming
(22:36):
back to New York. Yes.
And then and then Paris also, you know, got gentrified in a
lot of ways, like everything is.And it made me sad, but it was
also like, I still really like it, but I don't feel as if I'm
destined to live in the wrong city.
I'm Yeah, New York is. New York is amazing.
(22:59):
I almost feel like I shouldn't say that for anybody who's
watching outside of New York. Too many new people go home.
Go home. Yeah.
Don't. It's good, it's good, but we're
set. We're OK right now.
We're good for now. We love it.
That's amazing. Oh, Mr. Bigsby.
Is he named Mr. Big because of Sex and the City or no?
No, you know, it's so funny, so many people asked me that, and
(23:23):
it just became, I mean, because he's so little and he's got this
big personality. So I just started calling Mr.
Biggs as well. But yeah, no.
That's what I thought when you said it at first.
That's why. I was like, oh, she.
Must love Sex and the City. And you know what?
I never minded when people told me that until I read about how,
you know, Chris N was kind of a predator.
And I'm like, you know, no. It's not the best.
(23:49):
But Mr. Biggs is, yeah, you are the best.
Oh my God, he's so. Cute.
And I took him to Paris the lasttime I was there and he was very
popular. Oh, Oh yeah.
Yeah, wow. And he likes to be dressed up so
you can get him a little Paris outfit.
You know, I I got him before I went.
I got him a beret. And then I thought, that's too
(24:09):
much. You know, it's like somebody
coming here and you live in New York.
Can you wear a New York T-shirt?No, no, no.
Yeah. Yeah, so and where, where, where
were you born? Were you born in?
Chicago. Oh, in Chicago.
Oh yeah, 'cause you said you were.
You've lived here since 93. OK, Very cool, Very cool.
What's it like dating in New York in the 90s and dating now?
(24:35):
Different and I'm older now so that also makes a difference.
As much as I might not like it to, it does.
But it was things just happened easier, you know, you didn't,
you didn't, you met somebody when you were out with your
(24:57):
friends at a bar. You know, you, you sometimes met
somebody literally on the street.
You met somebody while you were waiting for the subway.
Because people didn't have smartphones.
People didn't even have cell phones at that point.
Late, late 90s, good cell phones, but they weren't
smartphones, you know, So I mean, it was a it was a lot more
(25:20):
adventurous. I would say I had some great
adventures. But yeah, I met people.
I literally met this guy that I dated for a while waiting for
the subway, coming back from a party.
And we're both waiting and he was super cute.
And I don't remember who spoke first, but we ended up getting
(25:41):
we're on getting off of the samespot.
And we ended up going to this bar that had a rooftop that you
could get on to which you weren't actually supposed to go
on. But we went up there, you know,
and we're looking over the city and we're making out a little
bit. And I thought this is New York.
(26:02):
So you know, yeah, it was it wasdifferent.
It was different. I mean, I think, I think in any
big city and there's always a difference because there are
more women than men. You know, if you, if you take it
down to straight women, straightmen, there are a lot more
(26:23):
straight and there are a lot more straight women who are more
interested in a relationship. Do you know what I mean?
So I think it makes it harder onwomen, but you know, there's, if
you're going to meet, if you're going to find someone, as hard
as it may be, you certainly havemore people who probably are
(26:48):
interested in some of the thingsyou're interested in here.
Then you're, you know, it's likemy one of my brothers had lived
in New York for a while before Ilived here.
And then he moved because he hada job change.
He moved to Cleveland and he gotmarried and he's, I went there
for the wedding and he's drivingme around.
(27:08):
It was a suburb of Cleveland. He said, look, look at this, you
know, like huge home. He said, I couldn't even get a
one bedroom for that in New York.
I said, yeah, David, but it's Cleveland.
It's not New York. Exactly.
Exactly. Not there's anything wrong with
that? Yeah, you know, but it's true.
People are always trying to tellpeople in New York, like, how
(27:31):
much space they could have. It's like, OK, but I won't live
in the city. And like, that's why I'm here is
I'm not here for my apartment. I'm here.
I used to have a nice place, butI'm here for the people.
I'm here for the city. Exactly, exactly.
And I just really lucked out because so I broke up with this
guy a few months later and he never, he gave me for it.
(27:52):
He's like, you used me for that apartment.
I'm like, I didn't even know. But it's rent stabilized.
I mean, I'm in it's I'm on the 19th floor and I have windows
and I mean, it's tiny, but that's fine.
And you know, I have few friendsthat came here from LA to visit
(28:15):
who are like, are you still living in that tiny apartment?
I'm like, yes, I am. They will carry me out.
Fee first, so you pay. Rent.
You're still renting. Oh yeah.
Oh wow, wow, that's. Amazing.
I, you know, at a certain point I was like, other people are
(28:36):
making a lot more money than me,but but I also also seem to be
happier than that. So not always by any means, but
I, I don't care about owning. I mean, I know you're supposed
to. I know, yeah.
It's like, why? I don't know.
Yeah, I. And it's like, maybe this is a
stupid perspective, but it's like if anything were to go
(28:57):
wrong, like if I own it, that's just on me.
Yes, I. Know right, I know.
It's like if something's wrong in my apartment, like I can
literally, I don't have to worrylike that's someone else's,
yeah. Exactly, exactly.
You call the. Super.
Yeah, they take care of it. It's not supposed to be my
problem. Where do you guys live?
(29:18):
We're in Park Slope. Oh, OK.
Yeah, yeah. I'm also in a rent stabilized
place that I'll probably live inforever so.
When you find a rent stabilized place that you love, like that's
it. That's it.
Unless there's something major to leave for you, don't leave.
Yes. And at one point, you know, I
thought, well, even if I, if I got married or moved in with
(29:41):
someone or something, this is definitely not a place big
enough for two people for more than, you know, a couple weeks
Max. I would never have given this
up, you know, because apartmentsare harder to find.
That's not quite fair. That's not, but you understand
(30:03):
what I'm saying? No, totally.
Totally. I just, I just moved this time
last year and it was like we, welucked out with the place we
ended up finding, but it was like, and I was with my
boyfriend, we almost broke up. Like it's the worst process
trying to move in New York. Like it's so hard to find a
place that checks all your boxes.
Like you have to give something up.
(30:24):
Oh, definitely, definitely. You know, so I, I, yeah, I feel
incredibly lucky and and I have what other people call a ledge,
but I call a balcony. You just go, you go out through
the window, you know, and it's wide enough that you can put
like a little beach chair, not one of this.
(30:45):
And it's stretches the length ofmy apartment.
And I thought, oh, wouldn't it be great to have a Margarita
party here? Just bring a bunch of chairs and
people could pass the, you know,the blender of margaritas back
and forth and we could drop the chips back and forth.
And people were like, you can't do that.
But I did. It was so much.
(31:07):
Fun. There were like 20 people on my
quote UN quote. On your.
Ledge, I love that. That's that's so New York like
this is what I got. This is my balcony.
So come on over. We're.
Gonna come on over balcony what we're doing.
I love that. And who?
So yeah, who's your crew in New York?
Like, who do you hang out with? What types of people do you?
(31:28):
Hang out with you know, it's it's mixed.
I hang out with people from likedifferent parts of my life.
My best friend who was the one who used to live in this
building, now she and her boyfriend own a place like 6
blocks away. So that's great.
I spend a lot of time with her. I have guy friends that I've met
(31:49):
along the way. The one whose niece's birthday I
was at, I met him. I moved here in 93.
I probably met him in 94, you know, So I met him through
another friend. So there's that group, and then
there's like, I become friends with the woman who started
(32:10):
teaching me French, you know? So then there's her group and
people that I worked with at different places, you know,
different artists. So I'm still write for, I still
write, I freelance, and I'm working on a collection of short
stories. And we'll see where that goes.
(32:30):
And that's so. Exciting.
So. Yeah, so some of my closest
artist friends have moved and I was sure for a couple of them,
like one of them moved to LA I'mlike, you're not going to like
it. But he's he likes it.
He likes. It you never hear that if people
(32:50):
love New York, you never hear they also love LA.
Yeah. I mean, it's OK, but yeah, no.
Wow, I love that I've never. Been.
I just feel like I wouldn't likeit that LA.
Yeah, I've never been to LA. Oh wow, yeah.
It's like. It's, I mean, it's different.
You just can't walk anywhere. You can't walk anywhere you and,
(33:12):
and I learned to drive out thereand really wow.
I, I apparently was terrible at it.
I mean, I, I thought I got to the point where I was mediocre,
but at one point I was started dating somebody that I knew from
back there. And this is pre Uber, you know,
and so everybody has to pick me up and take me here.
(33:34):
I don't drive anymore. I mean, I haven't driven since I
left and, and most of these people had seen me drive.
So I said, you know, not I'm coming back more often because
I'm coming, you know, to see himand you guys too.
So maybe I should take a couple lessons to get a driver's
license again. And every one of them separately
said to me, no, don't do that, we'll pick you up.
(33:59):
I'm like, didn't I get to be just sort of snow?
He was. OK at this.
He was OK at this. That's like, every time I go
home, I'm worse at driving. Yeah.
And when I left, like every timemy mom's in the car with me,
she's like, next time I have to drive, I'm like you're.
From originally. I'm from Connecticut, OK, and I
learned to drive in Connecticut.My dad taught me in a cemetery,
(34:20):
which I don't know. Oh.
My goodness. That's where he thought we would
be OK, and I felt like I was such a good driver in high
school. Every time I go home now, which
is I've, I've been here for a while, I've been here for like
11 years, but every time I go home like I'm worse, I'm faster,
I'm hitting curves, I'm missing stop signs.
Like really? Because in New York, you're when
(34:40):
you're walking, you're looking all around.
Right. But you can't.
And you're dashing in between cars.
It's like, yeah, yeah, You're like, you're just.
Doing your own thing. But you can't do that when
you're driving, obviously, no. No, you can't.
Got pulled over once, I thought what I did was OK but there was
a pregnant woman with a baby carrot I was nowhere near.
(35:03):
Her. I believe she was fine, but
apparently I still should not have gone and.
I love that. And that's what it's like when I
drive. Yeah.
So Drake, we we like to do this thing with our guests and we're
going to be like wrapping up kind of soon because we have a
couple minutes left, but we wantto hear your most New York
(35:26):
moment of the week. But it I feel like for you, we
could say ever, right, like justin time.
So it could be like, you know. Like that Margarita Ledge party,
like New York moment, like there's.
Something that's only in New York.
What would you say yours is? There's so many things, OK, OK,
(35:47):
this is this is a New York thingto me.
It's not, it's not a crazy moment or any of that, which I
could name. But you in New York, you know,
you live in New York and, and there's guys that sell fruits
and vegetables on most on a lot of the corners, right?
And there's a guy that sells fruit and vegetables on corner
(36:11):
of 68th and Columbus. And he's my favorite guy.
So I only go to him And he, his name's Celine.
And I realized at one point he has a whole fan club on the
Upper West Side. He's so sweet and cute that
people did you know, it's Celine's birthday?
I'm like, no, I didn't. I'd go to Magnolia.
I'd get him a cupcake. I love that he.
(36:32):
Loves Bigsby, so a lot of times I'll take Bigsby buy just to you
know, just to say hello, you don't have buying anything.
And he's like, oh, you made my day.
So Bigsby got but was sick this past week.
He had a little something. And I told Salim and he was
like, I will pray for him. And I thought that is, you know,
(36:54):
it's it's I don't know where he's I think he's from Morocco.
I don't know. I'm sure he's Muslim.
I will pray for him. I love him, it was just that
doesn't happen in our life. That's really sweet.
It's really special. So sweet, I love that.
Well, we definitely need to stayin touch.
(37:15):
Thank you guys. It was such a pleasure and it
was all such a fluke. It's great.
I. Love this was so special.
This was very New York, how we all got together.
Like Facebook? Marketplace, yeah.
And your friend, who I'd never seen before and apparently lived
in this building for eight yearsand now is moving.
I mean this. Is moving.
(37:36):
Oh no. Wow.
Oh well, I mean, yeah, you you guys should definitely hang out
while. While you're there, now everyone
knows a unit's opening up in a nice apartment.
Yes, you've. Read the word.
All right, you guys. Thank you so much.
Yeah. Thank you, it was so nice to see
(37:56):
you again. It was so good.
To see you, Hopefully there'll be more Halloween parades.
Yes, yes. Dogs.
We'll find you next year. OK.
Bye. All right, bye.
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