Tag Archives: diamonds

A TRAIN STATION WITHOUT TRAINS by Peter Nolan Smith

A TRAIN STATION WITHOUT TRAINS is a collection of four stories set in New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Millions of tourists come to view one of the largest open air interiors in the world and while I’ve traveled north from the station, I’ve also spent time eating and drinking at the fabled Oyster Bar and […]

A BARK BETTER THAN A BITE by Peter Nolan Smith

Every diamond shop on West 47th Street was open seven days a week from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Sales people, guards, elevator operators, schleppers, cutters, setters, polishers, and even Lennie the Bum slaved throughout the holiday rush in hopes of scoring enough cash to buy presents. Stores extended their normal hours to entice late-night shoppers. […]

QUEEN OF THE PLAZA by Peter Nolan Smith

St. Patrick’s Day promised to be another disaster for the Retail Collection of the Plaza Hotel. Hordes of green-clad spectators streamed down the escalator into the basement. Their eyes averted the luxury goods on offer, as their destination was the hotel’s public bathroom. Within the first hour I had given directions to the toilet over […]

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre / BET ON CRAZY by Peter Nolan Smith

Every Valentine’s Day diamond dealers and jewelers on 47th Street anticipated a winter spending spree by lovers for their loved ones, but each year of the 21st Century the sales numbers dropped drastically, as the economic downturn cut into everyone’s surplus, but the rich. Valentine afternoon in February 2011 shoppers crammed the chocolatiers along 5th […]

HAPPY HEARTS by Peter Nolan Smith

Every Valentine’s Day diamond dealers and jewelers on 47th Street anticipate a mid-winter spending spree by lovers for their loved ones, yet year after year sales numbers have fallen by double-digits, as the economic downturn cut into the income of the middle-class. Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but not this year. Yesterday the […]