November 10, 1980

 

A much younger Buttercup and Sir Laurence Olivier

Exactly 45 years ago I began one of the great adventures of my life. It was my day one as the Deputy Scheduling Director for Mayor Ed Koch. I don't remember what I wore or how I felt -- though I'm sure I was scared to pieces -- but it was the first day of a twenty five year career in city and state government. When I look back at my forty years of full-time work, I couldn't have begun to imagine that this single day would lead on to the next thirty-three years of working. 

I'd never had the thought of a government career, but the job opened up, I had scheduling experience and things fell into place. And what a world I entered. The Mayor set the pace. His schedule started with meetings sometimes as early as 7:00 am and went well into the evening. There were a lot of meetings, events, photo opportunities and phone calls to schedule. Our office had six people working there and was also the waiting area for people who had meetings with the Mayor. Privacy was unknown, but mostly I loved the whirl of people and events.  

I stayed in City Hall for three and a half years, working through three campaigns, thousands of meetings and events. These included a welcome dinner and parade celebrating the return of the American hostages from Iran, receptions for President Reagan and Anwar Sadat, the Brooklyn Bridge Centennial, and visits from Mother Theresa, Jerry Lewis, Big Bird, and many others. I had the privilege of working with some of the most intelligent and hard working people I could imagine and learned so much about New York City and the complex coordination needed to keep it running.  

One of my great regrets is my lack of photographs. But in 1980 and the years that followed there were, as we know, no cellphones. Alas, I have no photos of me and Jerry Lewis or Big Bird, but I do have the memories. And I am so very grateful for all them.

As ever, thanks for visiting and thanks for being part of my Buttercup journey.