2018/02/08 - “Lucky’s”

“Lucky’s” was the last liquor store to close at night in Queens, NYC. 

There was one night, I think it was my engagement party, that at 11:15 PM, I discovered we we running out of booze, and realized that the only liquor store still open was... Lucky’s. 

It was also no coincidence that Lucky’s was located in the absolute most dangerous part of the Queens at the tome, South Jamacia. 

We broke all speed limits to get there before midnight, closing time, and in fact just made it before the iron curtain went down, closing the door for the night. 

Unfortunately while we were inside buying many bottles of boose thru a 1-inch plexiglass window, a crowd of latecomers, many of whom were already severely intoxicated, were litterly hanging on the iron curtain pleeding for a chance to come inside. 

Now we weren’t exactly stupid and we anticipated the scene, so Joey (my best man) was right outside the door in his suped-up  Oldsmobile 442 with the engine running, and both passenger side doors open, waiting for me and Tommy to run in. 

As you can imagine, when Tommy and I came out of the store with liquor bottles, we had a lot of new friends who became more and more aggressive as we approached the car. 

This was a dangerous moment, but the thrill was intoxicating, which will explain Part Two. 

By the time Tommy and I were able to get inside the car and close the doors, the drunken zombies were all ove the car and holding on as we sped away, leaving many skidding on pavement. 

Coming back to my party, bottles in hand, I was a hero.