Interview with Michael
I used to live in this neighborhood years ago, and I used to come to Jew Town every Saturday and buy me a pair of gym shoes, and buy me a short sleeve silk shirt in whatever color they had out that I thought was cool with the gym shoes and used to go hang out when I was a teenager. This used to be my shopping area. I haven’t been over here walking in this area since I was a teenager, and I’ll be 43 years old—it’s been a long time that I haven’t been in this area just to see what’s going on. I see it’s a college town now. Dorms and stuff like that and different restaurants and salons and things of that nature. I’m just kind of scoping out the area and seeing what’s going on new with it, and I’m seeing that it’s very nice. Food has upgraded a lot, even though Maxwell Polishes were like the thing to have.
Clothes…all the clothes that were out on Maxwell Street, they were bargains but still up to date. It was just a different shopping experience. It was more like bargaining. At that time, in this area, it felt like a family experience when you came down here to shop—it was a hustling-type, warm and inviting experience. That’s how it felt to me. You got different nationalities from all around just came down here to shop and bargain and enjoy that food and shopping experience. I was walking in the area to see if at least one or two of the places might still be hanging around, but I see that all of it’s gone.
