In “Beginning With The Undertaker” Liebling describes the local hangout as the funeral parlor. This doesn’t really apply to present day New York. If someone today were to go hangout with the undertaker, they would be ridiculed. A passerby would probably snag a picture of them going inside a funeral parlor late at night, like how the policeman stopped by Liebling’s undertaker after his shift, and post it on the Internet for all to see.
As crazy as hanging out with the undertaker sounds, there is a root of today’s New York in his story–if the undertaker is viewed like “Mayor Rizzo.” I believe this to be Liebling’s intention. The idea of a communal hotspot on a New York City block is what Liebling really expresses. My Grandmother’s block in Queens had a similar hangout spot/block mayor. This was my Grandmother’s stoop, and she was the block mayor. She would sit out on her stoop with a cushion, waiting for her neighbors to stop by. Kids would say “hello,” the older couples on the block would bring chairs and sit for a while, and even the mailman would hang around for a chat.
Even as time passes and things change, Liebling’s New York block still exists.
You are so right –it is all about a communal hot spot, a hangout!