and fairly good looking with a nice title, so we were invited everywhere. We would see Andy Warhol, Halston, Diana Vreeland, Giorgio SantâAngelo, and, of course, lots of Europeans. It was a movable feast: Ginoâs and Elaineâs and La Grenouille. And I threw many dinner parties. What I remember clearly is that you could go to the supermarket and for $50 you could buy pasta, salad, and a big ham.
P ADMA L AKSHMI
television host
arrived: 1974
I first came to New York on Halloween night. I was four years old and flew on Air Indiaâs unaccompanied-minor program. I remember landing, and seeing all the big buildings, and being superexcited about this new adventure, and also, of course, being reunited with my mother. She was waiting there to pick me up.
There werenât that many Indian groceries in Manhattan back then, so my mother would take me on little field trips: to Jackson Heights for Indian spices, to Chinatown for noodles and Asian vegetables, to Spanish Harlem to eat empanadas or find sugarcane and tamarind. She wanted to introduce my young palate to all types of flavors and cuisines and ingredients. She didnât want me to be left out at school, and she wanted me to be able to eat everywhere.
My mother worked at Sloan-Kettering, and we lived in subsidized housing on the Upper East Side. I remember roller-skating down from Eighty-first Street and meeting her for lunch in the summers. Weâd eat falafel from a pushcart on First Avenue. Looking back, Iâm amazed how much we ate street food. My perfect meal would be a pretzel with mustard and then an Italian ice. I was a vegetarian for a lot of my childhood, so I would order a hot dog but tell the vendor to leave the hot dog outâjust the bun and the fixings, like sauerkraut and mustard and relish. Slowly I started eating hot dogs.
L ORNE M ICHAELS
television producer
arrived: 1975
I âd been living in California for the better part of five years, and what I remember most about the transition to 30 Rock is that I didnât have the required clothes. You know, when I was writing for Laugh-In , we worked in a motel and wore Hawaiian shirts and pants that flared. I remember going to Saks Fifth Avenue and buying an oxblood-colored V-neck sweater,and then buying a green corduroy jacket on Madison Avenue. I could wear the jacket with jeans, which then was a relatively fresh style. I was twenty-nine turning thirty, and I felt invincible.
There wasnât much television being done in New Yorkâand the shows that were still here were soaps. The crew who knew how to put on a live show were still around, but they hadnât done it since the industry had moved to California. To do Saturday Night Live , it was like we were putting new wine in old television shows.
But when I walked into the lobby of Rockefeller Center the first time, I thought, Well, this show is absolutely going to work. Thereâs something about walking into 30 Rock that puts audiences in a good mood. There was so much available space at the time, it was like there were deer running through the hall. And most of us who worked on the show didnât mind spending so much time in the officeâ30 Rock was nicer than our apartments. It felt as if we were on an adventure, tapping into an older tradition.
I met a lot of people right away, and each would show me a different part of the city. Michael OâDonoghue and Anne Beatts wanted me for drinks at the Oyster Bar. Herb Sargent, who came on board to do Weekend Update, took me to Elaineâs. Candice Bergen and I went to the Russian Tea Room. But the first and deepest friendship I made that summer was with Paul Simon. We would go to this restaurant called Chin-Ya in the Woodward Hotel, and I would bounce ideas off him as I started to put the show together in my mind.
C INDY S HERMAN
artist
arrived: 1977
I t was the summer of 1977, and I was terrified of the city. Son of Sam was going around murdering
P ADMA L AKSHMI
television host
arrived: 1974
I first came to New York on Halloween night. I was four years old and flew on Air Indiaâs unaccompanied-minor program. I remember landing, and seeing all the big buildings, and being superexcited about this new adventure, and also, of course, being reunited with my mother. She was waiting there to pick me up.
There werenât that many Indian groceries in Manhattan back then, so my mother would take me on little field trips: to Jackson Heights for Indian spices, to Chinatown for noodles and Asian vegetables, to Spanish Harlem to eat empanadas or find sugarcane and tamarind. She wanted to introduce my young palate to all types of flavors and cuisines and ingredients. She didnât want me to be left out at school, and she wanted me to be able to eat everywhere.
My mother worked at Sloan-Kettering, and we lived in subsidized housing on the Upper East Side. I remember roller-skating down from Eighty-first Street and meeting her for lunch in the summers. Weâd eat falafel from a pushcart on First Avenue. Looking back, Iâm amazed how much we ate street food. My perfect meal would be a pretzel with mustard and then an Italian ice. I was a vegetarian for a lot of my childhood, so I would order a hot dog but tell the vendor to leave the hot dog outâjust the bun and the fixings, like sauerkraut and mustard and relish. Slowly I started eating hot dogs.
L ORNE M ICHAELS
television producer
arrived: 1975
I âd been living in California for the better part of five years, and what I remember most about the transition to 30 Rock is that I didnât have the required clothes. You know, when I was writing for Laugh-In , we worked in a motel and wore Hawaiian shirts and pants that flared. I remember going to Saks Fifth Avenue and buying an oxblood-colored V-neck sweater,and then buying a green corduroy jacket on Madison Avenue. I could wear the jacket with jeans, which then was a relatively fresh style. I was twenty-nine turning thirty, and I felt invincible.
There wasnât much television being done in New Yorkâand the shows that were still here were soaps. The crew who knew how to put on a live show were still around, but they hadnât done it since the industry had moved to California. To do Saturday Night Live , it was like we were putting new wine in old television shows.
But when I walked into the lobby of Rockefeller Center the first time, I thought, Well, this show is absolutely going to work. Thereâs something about walking into 30 Rock that puts audiences in a good mood. There was so much available space at the time, it was like there were deer running through the hall. And most of us who worked on the show didnât mind spending so much time in the officeâ30 Rock was nicer than our apartments. It felt as if we were on an adventure, tapping into an older tradition.
I met a lot of people right away, and each would show me a different part of the city. Michael OâDonoghue and Anne Beatts wanted me for drinks at the Oyster Bar. Herb Sargent, who came on board to do Weekend Update, took me to Elaineâs. Candice Bergen and I went to the Russian Tea Room. But the first and deepest friendship I made that summer was with Paul Simon. We would go to this restaurant called Chin-Ya in the Woodward Hotel, and I would bounce ideas off him as I started to put the show together in my mind.
C INDY S HERMAN
artist
arrived: 1977
I t was the summer of 1977, and I was terrified of the city. Son of Sam was going around murdering
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