They were married in a civil ceremony on the second floor of the Muni Building decorated with streaked windows and a scarred tiled floor. The family was surrounded by a dozen other brides in white dresses alongside grooms in tuxedos. Unkle Traktor, however, wore a suit bought and tailored on Orchard Street, while Aunt Georgia used her Ohrbach's employee discount for a dress, bag, and shoes.
After the ceremony, everyone rode the subway to the Bronx for a buffet lunch in one of the windowless community rooms at the Coops. The entrance to the building boldly displayed a plaster frieze of a hammer and sickle.
Inside they were greeted by a variety of former neighbors with whom they had grown up and still felt a certain kinship. The musty smell of the basement mixed with the aroma of pastrami,
