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Each time there is a MAE WEST walking tour in The Big Apple, astonished callers (who phone to RSVP) tell the tour organizer(s): "I didn't know Mae West lived in New York!" This summer an upcoming tour in Manhattan mid-August will wind down Chez Mae on the WESTside (and surely you knew this was coming). 
• • An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is where baby Mae was born in August 1893. She also hung her hat in Manhattan as well as in an area now called Queens — — but then known as Long Island.
• • Woodhaven, Queens, NY • •
• • The West family moved around a lot. For a few years, they called Woodhaven home; during this period Mae began writing plays and registering her copyright with the Library of Congress from her mother and father's Boyd Avenue address.
• • Leonora Lavan knows all there is to know about Woodhaven, where she was born and bred. She is the president of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society [WCHS], which meets regularly, plans events, hires speakers, reprints important historical research and monographs, maintains an archive, and does its share for civic pride.
• • To learn more about the group, and discover the history of one of Mae West's old stomping grounds, read this article: "Marking History A Site At A Time — — Woodhaven Society Continues To Celebrate Area's Past" by Bill Mitchell.
• • Published by The Times News Weekly — — www.timesnewsweekly.com — — Mr. Mitchell's article was a feature story earlier in May 2009.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWestNYC
Mae West.
In March 1921, MAE WEST mailed her slim playscript "The Ruby Ring" to the Library of Congress. At 20 pages, this manuscript was more of an extended "sketch" than a play. Gloria, the female lead, is a man-trap who is able to pick the gents off with ease.
• • Her parents were living in Woodhaven, New York during 1921 [705 Boyd Avenue] and Mae used this Queens/ Long Island address when she registered the copyright.
• • In 1922, 29-year-old Mae added a full-length play — — "The Hussy" — — to these Washington, DC archives. Nona, the female lead, likes generous fellows who demonstrate their devotion to a gal by dropping jewelry on her.
• • Nona says: "Most men value you by what they spend on you."
• • Joking that she was never a gold-digger, Mae West liked to say: "I take diamonds. We may be off the gold standard someday."
• • But speaking of little gems, here's a true story from Mae West's neighbor Vinny, who was born in 1925 and who still lives in Woodhaven on 89th Street — — around the corner from where she lived. For years Vinny has been trying to take a picture inside Neer's, a saloon where Mae West used to perform, and also a photo of Mae's former residence which is a block away from his own 19th century dwelling.
• • "Mae always spoils my photo," he laughed. "Either she blanks the entire roll on me or she pulls another prank."
• • Like what?
• • "Well, last winter after a snowfall, Mae's house looked so picturesque with the trees covered in white. Around noon it was sunny and absolutely clear when I took my photo. But when the film was developed, there was interference in front of the house as if a storm were raging," explained Vinny. And on the left, there was a strange orb of light in every frame. It seems like she's watching and resisting me."
• • "I like two kinds of men," Mae used to say, "domestic and foreign." However, she said nothing about amateur photographers.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.
