Chill winds of austerity blow along luxury liner row

[Simon Lewis]

The title is from the New York Times.It reflects the slump of the late 1960s where Cunard sailings were limited.There is mention of a Michael Leonard from the Empress of Canada.The ward room, market diner, Bernard's, Samaritaine, are mentioned.There are some photographs.
I paid for the article to see the whole thing.It was wonderful to see the confirmation of my cousin Bernard Groman's business as Bernard's and a short paragraph from his wife.
Bernard's sold quite a variety of garments.The store opened in 1954 and was going well in 1969 when the article was published.
If I can get permission (anyone know the rules?) I will upload one or more of the photographs, which could well be Michael Leonard.Anyone interested in reading the whole article has to pay 4 dollars at the NY Times website.
Max Hahn's was the haberdashery, about 400ft from Bernard's, along the avenue.Hahn was tragically murdered in 1967.Max Hahn's wife was called Ida.Please contribute posts if this brings out any memories, thanks.
Bernard's and Hahn's were important places alongside the market diners for thousands of crew and I post all this in their memories.They should only know!

[Len Stevens]

Thank you for the memories of the market diner where i spent and ate on many occasion. I was on the Old
Queen Mary the Mauretania and Scythia between 1954 and 1956 when things were going in a downward trend for the old Liners. It was sad to read about the murder but when I lived ashore in NewYork awaiting a ship it was quite common to hear of several murders in a day. As a young merchantman I made sure i was back in the Sailors Rest by early evening.

Many thanks, Len stevens