Cafe Bucky

New York is the Tokyo of America.

In searching for an apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan (UWS),
I have found that they come in three sizes:

* small
* smaller
* Leave your groceries in the hall. They won’t fit.

A lot of apartments I have seen used to be part of some large, grand
brownstone. Over the course of the last 100 years, many of these
have been carved up into ever smaller abodes. When you walk
into some of these places, you can almost hear the echoes of
some wonderful bygone era. Perhaps Dorothy Parker cracked
wise over there. There’s where some Jazz musician used to shoot
up in the 40’s, and so on.

But now there isn’t room for the echo. Strangely enough,
a lot of these places are just fine with dogs. Got a
Great Dane? Sure! Bring her with ya! She can sit
down in the living room. All of it.

Sample: $2000 for a 1 bedroom with about 500 square feet.

You can put a bed in the bedroom, and perhaps a dresser. Oh, would
you be walking in this room too? That’ll cost extra.

And in New York, they want commitment. Month to month? Hah!
You’re in for a year.

I had a landlord point out to me the wonderful Southern Exposure
in a 5th floor, top of building walkup yesterday. I asked him how it was
in the Summer (you know, where the Sun is actually farthest
from the Earth, but feels like it’s the closest?) He said it was fine.
We’re in a room that has floor to ceiling greenhouse windows …
Of course, he lives on the 1st floor, on the Northern Exposure side.
I gave his expert assessment all the consideration it deserved. Schmuck.

I don’t think I want to be in New York in the Summer.
It makes me think of math:

New York Humidity + Heat + Stairs +
Southern Exposure + Small Space = GrumpyBucky

But, ya know, with the right working gig, and the right place where
I can get all Tokyo-organized, I think I can make it work. Make
use of all those high-ceilinged square centimeters.

Quick, make a decision. 20 other people have seen it today.
Where do you want to live for the next 365 days? C’mon man,
I’ve given you your New York Minute to think about it.
Time’s up!

Date: Friday, May 7th, 2004 at 6:44 am | Category: Musing | RSS Feed: RSS 2.0 feed.

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