Grieve-Smith on Transportation

Granpa Nate smiled. Today it would be just him and little Adriano. It was hard to get that son of his to give up Adriano on a weekend day, but Granpa Nate had persisted, and finally got a nice warm Sunday to spend with the boy. A great day for the beach, he thought as he rang the doorbell.

"Hey Granpa! Look at this program!" A plush-covered dove flew steadily out of Adriano's bedroom door, hovered over Granpa's head for a few seconds, then crashed into the living room wall and landed on the couch. "Aw, it went too far, Daddy!" said the boy.

"Well, how many meters did you program it to go after the hover?"

"Three- Oh, that's why! Granpa, can I bring Paxie the Dove to the beach?"

"Not to the beach, Adriano. No, don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to play with it later. Listen, if Paxie gets seawater inside, it'll never fly again. Bring your shovel and pail, I'll put them on the back of my bike. Now say goodbye to Mommy and Daddy."

Granpa Nate and Adriano rode the elevator down and rolled their bicycles out into the bright sun. "Well, well, Paterson, New Jersey!"

"You always say that, Granpa!"

"I know, buddy. I've been here a hundred times since your mom and dad moved here, and I still can't get over how this place has come up. I still remember the way it was when my Mama and Daddy brought me here to see the Great Falls ... some seventy years ago! It must have been 2010 or 2011. A little worn-out but not a bad place. It was a sleepy suburban town. Not like this!" He waved his hand towards a row of high-rise apartment buildings.

"What else was different?" asked Adriano, as they rode down Broadway.

"Well, the train station, for one. It was just a little shack under the viaduct. Not like Union Station today. And so many cars on the streets! Adriano, be careful. Ride on my right side and don't get too far ahead! Some of these people are speed demons. Hey, come back!"

One of "these people," in fact, was Adriano's classmate from fourth grade, Luke. Granpa Nate had to pedal hard to cut the boys off. "No racing now, Adriano. We've got a train to catch."

"Hey Mr. U., we're taking the train too! We're gonna go to the Museum of Natural History and see the dinosaurs!"

"That's great, Luke! You and Adriano can play on the train. Where's Mama?"

"She rode ahead to get some tamales for us to eat in Central Park."

And there was Luke's mother, standing astride her bicycle in front of Union Station. "Hello, Mr. U. Great day for the beach!"

"Yes, I hope it won't be too crowded."

"The beach monitor says that there are still some unreserved spots at Gilgo Beach, so we won't have too much travel time."

The four rode down the bicycle ramp to the air-conditioned platform, where they got off their bikes and waited. Three minutes later the train pulled in with a whoosh, the doors opened, and they wheeled the bikes inside. Granpa Nate and Luke's mom hung the boys' bikes from hooks above their own bikes, while the boys pulled out their handheld video games.

The stops went quickly: Saddle Brook, Hackensack, Ridgefield Park, Fairview, West Harlem. Luke and his mother got off at West Harlem to transfer to the downtown subway. Granpa Nate and Adriano stayed on past La Guardia Airport and Flushing to Garden City, where they would catch the Beach Jitney.