Spiritual Places In and Around New York City - Len Belzer, Emily Squires

One of life's ironies...involved reading today's news about the suicide of Len Belzer. The headlines all said, "Brother of Richard Belzer..." because Len's own claims to fame are quite modest. He was the host, during stand-up's heyday in the late 80's especially, of a radio show devoted to comedy and comedians. He also co-wrote, with his wife Emily Squires (a director on "Seseme Street") the book "Spiritual Places In and Around New York City."

Unfortunately, Len's wife died in 2012 sending him into a spiral of downward depression, and his own health began to fail...and despite his interest in spirituality...he leaped from his apartment building on West 94th Street. He was 73.

During the stand-up boom years, I did see Len around from time to time, but I can't say I knew him. We had a mutual friend in "Brother" Theodore Gottlieb. Theodore found Len to be "very intelligent," and unlike me, a good chess companion. They would often sit in Theodore's apartment (20 blocks down from Len's) and talk for hours about philosophy and religion.

The book? Like Len, it's unassuming, unpretentious, and very modest (about 140 pages). The reader learns of some obvious places to visit (museums and cathedrals, for example) and less well known places: "Get ready for one of the hottest, most cutting-edge places to be in all of New York City. The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors [542 West 27th Street] calls itself a "sanctuary for contemplation and a center for events encouraging the creative spirit" - emphasis on the creative. Together, artists Alex and Allyson Grey not only display their work here, they have also created around them a huge and dynamic community of artists and seekers of the devine..."

As one might expect, Len and his wife were more interested in documenting their personal preferences...places they no doubt recommended to friends and relatives. Each place gets a page or two, including the Ayurveda Cafe, which was only a block or two from their apartment...706 Amsterdam Avenue:

"When we think of Ayurveda, we think of a mystical Indian tradition having to do with essential oils and herbs; of warm unguents drizzled on fretful foreheads by gentle women with red dots marking their third eye; of Deepak Chopra and his quantum store of knowledge that seems to embrace everything in the universe. Rarely do we think of cuisine in conjunction with this tradition, though food is at the very heart of it...the Ayurveda Cafe, a simple vegetarian spot on the Upper West Side..."

No surprise the book, updated in 2008 by Cosimo Books, was not well known. It's personal, with its mix of tourist attractions and favorite restaurants and whatnot. At this point, who knows how many of the places still exist, or have changed their hours. It's probably lodged in a shelf on New York City, travel, or "spirituality" at some local bookstore, ready for you to browse. Just don't dwell too much on how "spiritual places" can sometimes fail to heal those who are suffering from deep mental or physical pain.