The Real Skinny: "Both of them were super - both in character and in stature"

The real skinny (according to Boy): Evie probably had this just about as correct as was possible. The accommodations at 55 East Tenth Street were in the form of a suite consisting of two bedrooms, and a common bath. The roommates in the adjoining room were Dimitri (the Russian) and a German young man (not named Vladimir).


Both of them were super—both in character and in stature. Either one of them could have whipped Fred and me, probably at the same time. The main reason that Evie and I did not spend much time in my room at 55 East Tenth Street was because we would never get any privacy, and it was not a terribly cool place to stay.

One thing I think she got wrong was her statement that the Russian and the German lived with Fred and me at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I don’t think we met them until we moved to 55 East Tenth Street. But it’s been a long time, I could be wrong about this.

The best thing about 55 East Tenth was the TV room on the first floor. It was a lot of fun going down there to watch the Knicks play. My guess is that Evie (not Fred) might actually have been in the room with me the night that I bombed the drunks on the street with a drinking glass, but I do not know for sure about that.

On a recent visit to New York, I tried to get into the building to shoot a few pictures, but a security guard stationed inside rejected my request to do so.

Next time I will just click a couple off before I ask.

Sometimes it is just better to ask forgiveness than permission.