I (Steve) recently spent a few days in New York City. New York is a fascinating city to say the least! It’s so interesting to witness all of the diversity; Little Italy, China town, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, Chelsea, Financial district etc. It occurred to me that New York is really a city of multiple villages each established by folks from a different part of the world. The group I was with stayed in a local apartment which placed us in the heart of a smaller community of people. We stayed in an area near the upper west side that had an eclectic Grocery/Bakery, Zabar’s, that carried incredible tasting bread (according to my friends) that I couldn’t partake of because they were not vegan. The store obviously served as a focal point for a lot of the Jewish population as it carried Kosher food, coffee and cheese. It was fun to live as a local rather than a hotel to get a flavor for what it’s like to actually live in New York City!

One of the interesting spots I ran across was located near where we staying at the corner at 74th street and Central Park West!  This was the site of the 1st traffic fatality in the United States. As a personal injury attorney at a firm that focuses it’s practice car crash accident injuries and fatalities. This perked my interest. Back on September 13, 1899 Henry Bliss exited a streetcar and was struck and killed by a car. I would love to know if his widow sued the car owner, if the car owner had an insurance policy on the car and how that case was valued and resolved. SO many questions…maybe I will research this on my next New York trip.

New York is full of historic examples of all kinds. It seems every corner you turned you discovered a new community/village with its own history. One could literally spend months in New York discovering all the history and wonderful diversity. I want to wish all of my clients and former clients Happy New Year!  At Brooks Law Group, our clients become our friends!

Happy New Year!

Steve was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. As was the practice for new doctors his father worked day and night during his medical residency at Charity Hospital there. Steve comes from a long line of doctors. His father, his grandfather, his great grandfather, even two uncles were all specialists and/or surgeons in their chosen medical specialties, including internal medicine specialist, obstetrics / gynecology, neurosurgery and general practice / surgery. His great-great grandfather was the Surgeon General of Ohio during the Civil War.