CrossLines Kings Cross literary magazine

Kings Cross in the Year 2000
by Evelayne Hoctor

Life at Kings Cross in the year 2000 is a lot different from that described by Marjorie as a teenager fresh from a country town in Melbourne during the closing years of World War II. Sydney is now what is known as a 'swinging' city boasting a variety of cultures, a varied and international cuisine and as much sin, drugs and sex as anyone could wish or the average body can stand.

As all of you must know what is known as a 'shooting gallery' is proposed to be opened at 66 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross. 66 Darlinghurst Road, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Kings Cross area, is conveniently located directly opposite the entrance to the Kings Cross Railway Station and with a taxi rank and a bus stop right outside. However, this is not a place where one can hire a gun with blank bullets and target practice as once practised at country fairs. A shooting gallery in Kings Cross in the year 2000 is where a person goes to 'shoot up' or 'mainline' either heroine or cocaine, depending on one's preferences and whichever facility is cheapest at the time.

66 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, had a previous history as a pinball parlour and then it was a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. For various reasons the building has been standing empty for quite some time and it is now proposed to establish the aforesaid shooting gallery under the protection of the Uniting Church and with government approval and support. One of the reasons this has come about is because the Sisters of Charity, based at St. Vincent's Hospital, were willing and had the facilities to provide such a service at the hospital. However, the Pope vetoed this proposal. 66 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, is considered by some to be a good alternative site for various reasons.

However, the long suffering residents of the Kings Cross area, which includes Elizabeth Bay, Potts Point, Woolloomooloo (included in the post code 2011) and also adjoining Rushcutters Bay, Darlinghurst, feel this to be a further invasion and erosion of their basic rights. Such residents, business proprietors and property owners feel that they have not been consulted sufficiently over vital issues such as the shooting gallery at 66 Darlinghurst Road. They also consider that the invasions and changes in what used to be a pleasant place to live with a slightly what is known as 'bohemian' atmosphere have eroded the once pleasant atmosphere to such an extent that it is no longer a safe place to relax and drink a cup of coffee. Many residents, the elderly in particular, hesitate to venture out after nightfall for fear of being robbed or mugged.

I have an ongoing interest in architecture and the historic houses in the Potts Point/Kings Cross area in particular. My study of photographs and other records at both the Mitchell and Kings Cross libraries reveal that, since 1986, and particularly since the Wood Royal Commission a few years ago, the decline in the Kings Cross area and Darlinghurst Road in particular has been remarkably swift. The media attention caused by the Wood Royal Commission, which initially was based on police corruption at the Kings Cross police station, provided such adverse publicity and drew such attention to the drug problem existing in Kings Cross, that the area has gone downhill particularly since that time and, if anything, the situation is worse. A study of photographs taken at about 1986 and then quite recently amply illustrate this decline.

Drug related offences including bashings, bag snatchings, robbings and, more recently, shootings, have become commonplace. Formerly lucrative businesses have been forced to close down as a result of this activity. A stroll down Darlinghurst Road (few people stroll down these days - they travel as quickly as possible) reveals that former boutiques and well known coffee shops are no longer in existence. Now there are mainly only sleazy looking strip joints, duty free shops and fast food outlets, including McDonalds and Hungry Jacks.

There is a large residential population in the area which deplores the drop in the standard of The Cross which was formerly known as a Bohemian area, beloved of writers, artists, actors and other creative persons and boasting a village atmosphere and even a resident witch, Rosaleen Norton. The residential population has watched with a mixture of bewilderment and horror the decline of their once happy go lucky shopping centre. At one time it boasted a village atmosphere. However, drug addicts and drunks of all types now proliferate in the Kings Cross area, drinking openly in the street and in Fitzroy Gardens which they seem to regard as being 'their' territory.

There is a facility known as K2 where methadone addicts can obtain their daily supply. However, I have discovered from a reliable source that K2 clients are not required to 'shoot up' on the premises but can take their disposable needles elsewhere. The result is that back streets on the CBD side of Darlinghurst Road are often littered with discarded needles which should be disposed of carefully. Hence one cannot say that K2 is a truly supervised location and there is no way of knowing whether users share needles (with the resultant risk of the spread of AIDS) or sell their free needles to others.

Unfortunately many of these drug addicts are only young. Under the age of 30, teenagers and even younger. Firstly, as caring and responsible citizens and adults, it's essential to determine why our young people are in such a situation and the reasons they are being forced into drug addiction with its associated problems. There are a number of reasons, as follows: lack of education resulting in lack of future prospects, lack of opportunity, and unemployment; many have been in abusive situations since early childhood; homelessness; mental illness due to a variety of causes, such as head injuries and other accidents. Surely we all deplore a life of drug addiction and, as sex workers, with no possibility of a change in their situation. They are on a downward path to self destruction as a result and the incidence of suicide amongst teenagers is growing.

The way out is to give them an opportunity to make a good life and provide opportunities for education, thus giving them hope of a productive and happy future. This problem should have been confronted by the government and responsible persons many years ago. For many years it has been forecast by caring persons that child abuse and youth homelessness would reach epidemic proportions if youth hostels were not provided. However, the problem has been brushed under the collective carpet for a variety of reasons, in spite of warnings from experienced social workers.

How many young lives will be lost and young futures ruined before drug addiction is recognised as the major national problem it really is? Not to be encouraged but to be regarded as an illness and treated as such and in a hospital - not in a former pinball parlour.

Kings Cross Then and Now
by Marjorie Virvillis

For the first time for years I had the opportunity to come to The Cross. I caught the train and as I walked out of the station, memories of when I first arrived here, came flooding back.

It was April 1943. My father had died and my sister had brought my mother and me from a small country town in Victoria to live at Tusculum Street, Potts Point. I was a fourteen year old teenager who was in a state of shock that my world had completely changed and I was out of my depth in this new environment after being used to roaming where I pleased in bushland or creek. Now, I was confined to a small flat and being told not to get lost in the maze of streets around me, as I had no sense of direction so confused was I.

One thing I did appreciate was most of the streets were lined with trees, while the heavy traffic with the noise and smells was another adjustment that I had to make. Between 8.30am and 9am each morning and between 5.30pm and 6pm at night, crowds were everywhere. People hurrying to work and coming home. Shops closed at 6.30pm, opening only until 12noon Saturday and closing all day Sunday. Cafes and restaurants stayed open later whilst hotels, by law, had to close by 10pm. Picture theatres emptied their patrons by 10.30pm.

Public transport consisted of trams and buses of which it was necessary for me to catch two, just to go to school at Paddington. The green trolley bus went direct to the Town Hall in the city. It was fun to watch the conductor pull the rope of the lever which connected with the electrical cable at the beginning of each journey. It would be very difficult on a wet or windy day.

It was wartime. Hundreds of G.Is and American sailors in tight white pants plus the Australian army, navy and airmen were around. Fights were known to happen between these groups on many occasions, especially as the Yanks had more spending money. The ladies of the night (so I'm told) did very well, so too did the black-market in cigarettes, stockings, ration coupons and liquor. All this was heresay as told to me at school or by the local paper and city newspapers. I personally didn't know what was going on at The Cross as I was too young, too naive, and too unsettled in myself to understand what was happening.

I went to my first play at the Minerva Theatre. It was called 'Dr. Clitterhouse' and if my memory is right, Edwin Styles played the leading role. I attended, and joined the Y.W.C.A. in Liverpool Street to meet young people of my own age. As a group we visited a British submarine at a pier - Garden Island perhaps. That was the highlight of our day.

I stayed approximately a year at Potts Point and The Cross area. We moved to an outer suburb of Sydney where my sister managed a clothing factory. In spite of my circumstances when I arrived here, I still have good memories of my first experience of city life which does surprise me.

Now as I walked down Darlinghurst Road, I looked into the shop windows as I passed by. Internet is available, so too, were fast food, convenience shops, chemist and cafes opened 24 hours a day. I passed an 'adult' shop with two sex workers standing in the doorway. I wondered if they do any business at this time of the morning - well, I'll never know. All kinds of accommodation and types of rooms are all advertised plus plastic milk crates with young men or girls with nothing to do, eyes half closed, resting their bodies against the wall. The Cross had certainly changed and moved with the times.

Why did you come to Kings Cross? Why do you live at Kings Cross? How can you live at Kings Cross? Well, I live here, now, because I love it. I like the people, I like the lifestyle, I like the fact that 'the world comes to Kings Cross'. I love its unique 'buzz'- the sense of excitement when thousands of people are visiting on long weekends, I enjoy seeing/meeting wonderful young people from every corner of the world. I love the paradox that is The Cross - the fun and the drama, the light and the dark, the sometimes bizarre, the spectrum of humanity in all its variegated shades, the microcosm of human beings living out their lives in this, our area, our Kings Cross. I love its 200 year history, its progressions. I love its gardens and flora and those who care for it. I love it when one of the icons of Sydney, the world famous Bourbon & Beefsteak Bar - not missing a beat - promotes events, be it visiting overseas ships, sporting events, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day and chysthaneums, the big screens on the premise where I've watched the All Blacks, and worn the red socks for the yachting, and that magical 4am Syd d ney announcement, the crazy New Year's eve hats. I also like the feeling of safety. I think it's great when the `blokes' come in on construction work, their physical activity, - a glimpse of how the other half lives away from Kings Cross. I love it when the residents fight for their rights, fight to retain their village atmosphere. I love how the business people support the community, how they quietly and unobtrusively help people who are in need. I love the networking. These are just some of the reasons I live at Kings Cross.

Like thousands of others over the years who've come to Kings Cross, initially you're a stranger to Sydney, you're looking for somewhere to live close to the city with good public transport, and accommodation that is affordable, and, of course, you're young, you're reaching out for life's experiences, you're not ready to settle down, you want to be where the world is, where it's 'happening', and so, you come to Kings Cross.

In Kings Cross, I have come to know 'the world' through association with some truly remarkable and unique people (whom I feel privileged to have met, whose lives I have touched, and who have become friends); people who respond to your troubled times, who are unbelievably caring, tolerant and loving such as Reverend Ray and Elaine Richmond from the Wayside Chapel, and many other individuals too numerous to mention.

To try and capture that which is Kings Cross! Well, it's some of these things: its people. its residents of half a generation and their link to another era. It's the village ambience when you are out and about you meet so many [different] people/friends, you stop, gossip, chat, analyse what's happening on the local scene,and, invariably, the 'let's have a coffee' time. It's the magnificent historic mansions and houses - the art deco Manhattan architecture of the buildings of the 1930s, 40s, 50s - the recalling by older residents of the glamorous and exotic 'Bohemia' lifestyle of that time.

Now, it's the new and young professionals - babies - children. Now, it's Bohemia of the late 19^th century; artists, sculptors, musicians - composers, actors - actresses, writers - screen writers - authors - poets, editors, photographers, comedians/ comediennes, film producers, film directors, fashion designers, interior designers. Night-time entertainment. For 50-60 years following a night out in town, Sydney people have been coming to The Cross to enjoy its attractions, its bohemian life style, - the `different' people. It's the clubs, the top-of-the-range and budget restaurants, the '90s ` milk crates on sidewalks' cafe society. Importantly, it's the businesses; people - proprietors - owners, who contribute so much and which keeps tourists and visitors coming to Kings Cross. It's the organisations; Kings Cross Rotary - distributing caring and valuable support to the community. Lions club - offering help and assistance where needed. The Community Centre and Activities Centre providing services for older residents. The Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Inc. promoting the positives, accepting challenges of perceptions. The services; church, social services, defence - navy, law and order, fire prevention. The sex industry. Politicians. Local Government members. Members of Parliament. The spruikers. Illegal substances providers.

So, the circle has turned - from those earlier, younger, enthusiastic days of eagerly stretching out to life, experiencing life's highs, lows, ups and downs - many of them at Kings Cross - So, here I am at Kings Cross, and loving it - but living a gentler, quieter and wonderfully fulfilling lifestyle.