I’ve been persuaded by Times Square Gossip to write a column for their site. I’m sure they’ll live to regret it. But till then – here’s my initial column. Enjoy.
Four years ago, on a late night NYC subway ride, I defended myself against a 6 ft 3 inch convict who tried to stab me. I was returning to my Washington Heights apartment in Manhattan after landing at JFK from a cross-country flight. I’ve been a bi-coastal actor for 7 years and at the time I was on CSI, which shoots in LA, so I made the bi-coastal journey with frequency. Due to CSI, the attempted stabbing became a headline. And for a very, very short time I was labeled, rather bewilderingly, a New York City Hero and got the attention of publications like Times Square Gossip and people like James Edstrom.
Being a bi-coastal actor is something I’ve always desired. And living that desire has been extraordinary. Living in NYC at any point in your life is incredible: I initially moved to The Big Apple after college until work moved me to The City of Angels three years later. And to experience living in NYC again, with more maturity and wisdom behind my eyes, while concurrently living in
LA, has been life changing.
In these bi-coastal years I’ve been swindled out of thousands of dollars by corrupt contractors during the renovation of my NYC co-op in which I lived for 7 months without a shower or bathtub. I’ve used my right uppercut, as a trainer boxer, to survive an attempted mugging. My home
has been robbed. And I’ve been fag bashed with iron knuckles which broke my jaw in two places resulting in having to have my jaw wired shut for two months. I’ve been arrested and falsely accused of domestic violence in Las Vegas and sentenced to counseling for public urination in NYC. I’ve mentored homeless LGBT youth at care centers in NJ and NYC and been honored by OUT magazine as one of the year’s OUT 100 alongside Rachel Maddow, Ricky Martin, and New York City’s hopeful next mayor Christine Quinn. I’ve worked with NYC icons from Christopher Meloni to Kathy Najimy and toured the world twice over with a new film franchise. I’ve rubbed shoulders with Chita Rivera, sung with India Arie, showered naked with Robin Byrd in her outdoor shower on Fire Island, celebrated my Birthday with NYC’s infamous Naked Cowboy, and befriended the cowboy from The Village People. Throughout a lot of it, people like James Edstrom have kept my affairs on their radar.
After James and Times Square Gossip got a hold of an Op-Ed I wrote about my Vegas arrest and the column I wrote for this year’s GLAAD Award Winning Publication TheAdvocate.com ended, he thought my constant encounter with trouble and my voracious zest for life would be worth sharing and encouraged me to continue writing a column for him.
So here it begins. As I just FaceBook messaged a dear girlfriend from high school while discussing whether she can afford to create her own bi-coastal life between North Carolina and NYC: “Money problems suck. I feel your pain more than you know. And more often than you can imagine. But money crap is only temporary. Life is to be lived while we can. And everybody should live in NYC at least once in their lifetime. So let it ride. Don’t stress. Follow your heart not your wallet and your head. Smile. Stay present. Get stoned every now and then. And I’ll see you in NYC.“
EDITORS NOTE: Gerald McCullouch will now be a frequent writer for Times Square Gossip. He will write about anything he feels like and anything that may be on his mind, un-edited.