Whitehall Street

Barry had an interesting errand to run this morning. With his main research project involving an international consortium, he is travelling to Europe more frequently than he has in the past. He recently learned that, for a modest fee, international travelers can enroll in the US Customs “Trusted Traveler Program,” which allows expedited customs and passport control upon return to the United States. The status also includes approval for TSA’s pre-check program, which enables less time to be spent getting through airport security. To complete the process, the applicant must appear in person at an enrollment center, and there happens to be one at the  US Customs House in Manhattan downtown on Whitehall Street.

I am not sure if I have ever been on Whitehall Street, but the name is certainly familiar to me. Back in 2013 I posted a link to a video of Arlo Guthrie singing his famous long and winding tale, “Alice’s Restaurant.” Arlo talks about having to visit the Selective Service office on Whitehall Street in the late 1960s:

They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street,
where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected,
neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one
day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so
I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York, and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I walked in and sat down and they gave me a piece of paper and said "kid, see the psychiatrist in room 604."

I was a bit apprehensive about Barry going down there. Lower Manhattan is not on a nice grid like most of the City, as it dates back a very long time, so it is easy to get lost. But he was able to find his way down there, and just like Arlo tells it, the man asked him “have you ever been arrested?” and Barry was tempted

…to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre,
with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that…

But he thought better of it, and just said “no,” and he was approved for the program.

We are staying in New York this weekend. The Yankees are playing a day game on Sunday and the weather is supposed to be nice, so Barry bought tickets for us.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Rebecca