In New York: in New York: Simon Says Condo

"I look at it with mixed emotions," Lou Goldstein was saying. His lean, humorous face was at half-mast. "It's like watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff -- in your new Cadillac."

Goldstein had been more than director of daytime social and athletic activities at Grossinger's Hotel & Country Club. He had been a fixture, like the indoor and outdoor swimming pools and the nonstop kosher fare. For 37 years, celebrities and nobodies had taken orders from him as he led his stand- up antic game of Simon says.

Simon says put up your hands. Simon says bend forward from the...