American Experience

Interview with Man at Eddie's Bar

Interviewee: Name not given
Location: Eddie's Bar, St. Nicholas Avenue near 147th Street, New York City
Date: April 30, 1939, 8:00 PM
Interviewer: Ralph Ellison

Interview Excerpt: "Do you like living in New York City?"

Ahm in New York, but New York ain't in me. You understand? Ahm in New York, but New York ain't in me. What do I mean? Listen. I'm from Jacksonville Florida. Been in New York twenty-five years. I'm a New Yorker! Yuh understand? Naw, naw, yuh don't get me. What do they do; take Lenox Avenue. Take Seventh Avenue; take Sugar Hill! Pimps. Numbers. Cheating those poor people out a whut they got. Shooting, cutting, backbiting, all them things. Yuh see? Yuh see what Ah mean? I'm in New York, but New York ain't in me!"

Excerpt from the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writer's Project Collection, Transcript #21020403.

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