Raised in Loisaida

I grew up on the Lower East Side of New York City, in a traditional Hispanic home with three brothers and two sisters. The boys were allowed to come and go as they wished, but the girls had to learn how to be housekeepers, in order to become good, submissive housewives. Well, I wasn’t having any of that, especially after I had my first taste of alcohol. I just aspired to drink like the boys.