A blog about New York City, my books, and my cats. Mostly.
I’m planning a day off for myself. I wish I had picked a day with better weather. As I type it’s getting darker and darker and darker … but I need a break today, so I will plan inside things, like a movie and a museum. A perfect day, really.
A glimpse of spring in the West Village.
There was a postcard in my mailbox advertising an apartment for rent on the corner of my block. $3,700 for a one bedroom apartment. So insane. That’s typical for this neighborhood, and even in the low to middle range, if you can believe it. When I moved into my first apartment in this neighborhood my rent was $600 a month, and that was around 1981. At the time, that rent was considered on the high side, but still very reasonable. The landlord could have gotten more for the apartment but they were nice people and wanted to be fair. (Really!)
This is the building with the $3,700 apartment. I found pictures of the inside online …
Here’s a peek inside. It’s a nice apartment but really nothing special, except I do love the sliding barn door. There are two pictures of the kitchen below. I wonder which one is accurate?
Weirdly, the less finished one seems to be the most recent, but that can’t be right can it? Would people rip out nice cabinets and take them with them or something?
Oh wait, the cabinets are the same, they are just painted black in the picture above.
I had a great dane growing up so I am drawn to them. They are generally great big love bugs who want to curl up in your lap. Always funny. This one was huge. The top of his head came to about the middle of my upper arm.
Maia Szalavitz’s new book, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction is out today!
“… a new way of looking at drug addiction that offers a fresh approach to managing it. [Salavitz] writes frankly about her background …. In a heartfelt manner, she exposes her own fears and pain … A dense blending of self-exposure, surprising statistics, and solid science reporting that presents addiction as a misunderstood coping mechanism, a problem whose true nature is not yet recognized by policymakers or the public.” –Kirkus
“As more professionals realize that addiction isn’t really a disease, our challenge is to determine exactly what it is. Szalavitz catalogs the latest scientific knowledge of the biological, environmental and social causes of addiction and explains precisely how they interact over development. The theory is articulate and tight, yet made accessible and compelling through the author’s harrowing autobiography. Unbroken Brain provides the most comprehensive and readable explanation of addiction I’ve yet to see.” –Marc Lewis, author of The Biology of Desire
Congratulations, Maia!!
I actually took this shot a couple of weeks ago, as an early sign of spring, which is now here except it’s freezing in NYC at the moment. I can’t get up and close the window though, because I have a sleeping cat on me.
I took this in Gramercy Park, which I love, and get to pass by every time I go to the dentist. A good part of a bad thing. I would love to see inside these two buildings. I’m too chicken to ask for a peek though. When did I become this chicken??
