NYC Novelties

The definition of the word "novelty" is "the quality of being new, original, or unusual."

This city is filled with myriad novelties -- people, place, things -- that are offbeat, interesting, strange, original, and wholly their own. Good people may disagreed as to what makes someone, something, or someplace novel but, in looking at NYC past and present, here are three novelties that recently came to my attention that you might find interesting:

- If you are watching The Gilded Age, you might be intrigued by the character of Ward McCallister, portrayed by Nathan Lane. In a show that mixes history with fiction, McCallister was a real person, a self-appointed arbiter of NYC high society during the late 19th century. You might say he was Truman Capote before Truman Capote -- a Southern transplant of uncertain sexuality who delighted and amused wealthy and famous doyennes with rapier-like wit and cutting insights. He was invited and went everywhere, he was a valued guest at any table, he "made the scene" until, later in life, he wrote about it all and turned into a social pariah. Like Capote, McCallistser was a true NYC novelty, an "only-in-New York" type who couldn't exist anywhere else.

- Then there's a whole neighborhood that's a novelty -- Red Hook, Brooklyn. Right across the East River from Manhattan, Red Hook is largely cutoff from the rest of the borough and city since it has next to no public transporation (no subways, just one bus line, and the occasional ferry). A former industrial area, it seems frozen in time like -- no massive gentrification there -- like an old abandoned New England village. The residents love it and its streets and buildings almost seem like history made real. There really isn't any other neighborhood like it in the whole city, a real NYC residential novelty.

- Finally, when we think of Native American culture and the Wild West, we don't think of a townhouse in Boerum Hill. But you should! This fascinating article traces the history of a woman named Murial Miguel, now 84 years old, who grew up and still lives in this townhouse and who parents hosted numerous Native American actors and performers for decades, starting in the 1930s. It became a refuge and a salon for numerous Native American talents and Wild West show performers who were far from home, many scared to be in "the big city." Ms. Miguel is herself a theater performer and still working at her advanced age. What an amazing, trule "novel" NYC story!