Sometimes I think I’m the luckiest man in the world when it comes to catastrophes I avoided, and sometimes things like the fire that happened to me that killed five of my dogs, nine days after a ten-year breakup, really put me in my place. I have told many people that I was interviewed for a job on the 76th floor of the South Tower in 2001, FIVE weeks before 9/11. I have the photo ID from entering the building and blogged about the whole thing. I’m so grateful I did NOT get that job.
I also survived a bomb threat at one of the major law firms in downtown San Francisco on the 29th floor around 2009, as a litigant came in with a flashing belt yards away from my office.
So it gave me a bit of a chill when I heard the address of this recent midtown Manhattan mass shooting that happened. 345 Park Avenue was my in-person office for years, and it was literally my first job ever in Manhattan when I moved there in the Summer of 1988 (then aged 20). For 19 years, I continued to work in and eventually moved to Manhattan. I know I’m far removed from the situation now, but it still gives me a bit of a chill. The corner of that SAME building is also known for being where Marilyn Monroe did her white dress twirl over the subway grades. Small world, eh?
