It's our two-month-iversary!!!

It’s our two-month-iversary!  Just two months ago today we moved into our new apartment in Manhattan – and contrary to a few emails we’ve received saying “Okay, the joke is over – when are you coming back?” we are here to stay.

When we announced we were moving to New York City and leaving a city we’d lived and worked in for 35+ years, our friends and colleagues fell into three groups:  the first group said, “OMG, I want to go with you.” The second group was those who said, “Wow, I’d love to have the courage to do that, but we never could.  We’ll live vicariously through you.” The third group was more succinct: “Are you crazy?”

Yes, we probably are a little bit crazy, but as we neared the upper end of fiftysomething, we felt that if we were ever going to do this, now was the time.  We are still young enough to enjoy all the things the city has to offer, to get meaningful jobs that we will enjoy, and to have the time and resources to relish an urban lifestyle.

When most Americans think about New York City, they immediately imagine Times Square, 30 Rock, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. While those are certainly the iconic images of the city, the real New York City resides in its neighborhoods and is not the city you see portrayed in the media or by celebrities. 

It’s real people living in real neighborhoods – from the trendy Meatpacking District to the upscale, designer store-laden Upper East Side. From Chinatown (which most visitors think is only about buying knock-off handbags, but which really has a rich culture and fabulously authentic dim sum restaurants.)  And from DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) to the Upper West Side, one of the greenest areas of NYC – nestled between Riverside and Central Parks – and home to small bistros, local bars and Museum Mile (where we live).

This fall once the weather cools, we can’t wait to start exploring those neighborhoods that over the last 30+ years we never quite made it to. Yes, because of the numerous trips we made to NYC over the years we had discovered some of these neighborhoods, but we still have many areas that we’ve never stepped foot into. That is, really, at the heart of our new life.

If you are interested in discovering that New York, I highly recommend “The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 Miles in the City,” by William B. Helmreich. He literally walked EVERY block in New York City – not just in Manhattan, but also every block in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.

Thank you to all our friends who have sent supportive messages, who have called to check on us, and who are thinking about when they can come to the city to visit. Yes, we’ll be super happy to see you. No, at 572-square-feet we can’t accommodate guests, but we’ll help you find a reasonable hotel, plan a “different NYC vacation,” and enjoy a city we have loved for decades.