By TOM DAVIS and SYDNEY BEVERIDGE

At 6 foot 11, Paul Badome sticks out and up from the crowd. But his height, he said, is not always an advantage.

Although New York embraces diversity in a multitude of forms, Badome does not always feel the love.  He bumps his head on the subway. Children snicker behind his back. He said people leer at him, when he walks into a restaurant and his head barely clears the doorway.

“Growing up in Queens, I was taller than everybody,” Badome said. “I was definitely a freak.”

For tall New Yorkers like Badome, the dimensions of their bodies can make life in a crowded city uncomfortable. As the streets get more congested, the restaurants more cramped and the apartments smaller, tall New Yorkers are struggling to thrive in a city where space is at a premium.

Many join social clubs, like the Tall Club of New York City, to find space, peace and community. Tall Club members share clumsy moments, dating struggles and simple advice on where to shop for shoes in size 15EEE.

“People are drawn to Tall Club because they feel comfortable,” said the club’s president, Barry Hanold, who – at 6-feet 3 inches – is one of the group’s shorter members.

Tall New Yorkers – particularly those who top the Tall Club’s minimum height requirements – 6 feet 2 inches for men and 5 feet 10 inches for women – said they just want to feel “average.”

Whenever she walks down a rainy New York City street, Kathy Thornton, who is 5 foot 11, encounters the benefits and the hazards of her height. “We can go above the shorter people, but the shorter people whack us” with their umbrellas, said Thornton, adding she’s afraid that, someday, she’s going to lose an eye.

Tall women, in particular, have struggled to find dates because, members said, few men are interested in somebody 4 inches taller than they are. Indeed, those men who do like tall women are called “tree climbers,” said Sherry Schumacher, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall. 

Some who moved to Manhattan thought they’d find peace in a city that is supposed to be tolerant to diversity.

“When I moved from Boston, I came here six times trying to find an apartment,” said Jayne Herrick, a Tall Club member who moved into a small place. “Your desires are larger, but your budget is small.”

The city may be a shopping Mecca, but not for the tallest.  Many of the places that sell tall apparel and products have disappeared, club members said, or moved to the suburbs or the Internet.  Hanold has also seen a decrease in quality tailoring in the city.  Those who are 7 foot 2 just don’t “buy off the rack,” he said. 

Indeed, shopping in general has become a challenge – especially as the city’s stores and subways and roads have gotten more crowded. “Some of the old buildings – they have shorter doorways,” said Beverly Dintino, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall.

Many in the club say that California – especially Los Angeles – caters to tall people better than New York City.  As a younger community, Los Angeles has newer buildings with higher doorways, Hanold said.

Dintino has lived and shopped in both cities, and said tall people can easily find stores in Los Angeles that appeal to their needs – selling items such as baby carriages with extendable handles.

For many in New York, the Tall Club provides an escape from every-day life – particularly the challenge of finding affordable, sizeable apartments that are becoming less and less available.

Badome used to spend months looking for a bachelor apartment that gave him a little leg room. If he were looking now, he says, it could take years.

He met his wife through the Tall Club, and with a joint income, they were able to purchase a house on City Island, saving them from the city’s smallest spaces. 

“The apartments are so claustrophobic,” he said. “But I’ve got no choice.  I don’t want to not go into the city.”

Even in his Bronx home, he does not quite fit.  He built a larger shower outside because he couldn’t fit inside the one in his home. He said he also deepened the basement by six inches so he could walk around without slouching all the time.

Badome turned to the Tall Club for companionship. Founded in 1942, the New York group has 80 members – one of the largest within Tall Club International, which has 3,000 nationwide.

Sheila Burton, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall, knew she wanted to join the Tall Club after she read a magazine article about it years ago.  “It was such an unusual experience to just walk in and see people eye-to-eye,” she said of attending her first event.

Hanold scouts for larger-than-average restaurants with high ceilings whenever he’s planning a get-together. That way, he said, people can feel “average.”

Whenever they get together, they share complaints – and maybe even a laugh – about bumping their heads as they squeeze into subways, taxi cabs and doorways that lead to their small, cramped apartments.

Being surrounded by other “talls,” as members call them, the height issues disappear.

“When I left the group once, I forgot how small the world was,” Badome said. “I went back to the group, and I felt comfortable again.”

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