serinde

I was walking from the F to work this morning, but happened to cross over to the other side of the street as my goal was to go onward for coffee; and happened to notice, in the window of the art supply store, a small placard saying "Studio apartment for rent, inquire within". So I did.

Apartment #11: Studio, Lexington Ave. at about 65th St. For the same $TOOMUCH I keep seeing everything for (obviously it's a break point). Every time I think "wow, can't beat the location" I see something EVEN CLOSER... I can literally See My House From Here. 3rd floor walk-up, the bottom floor being the aforementioned family-owned art supply store (who own the apartment, too--maybe the whole building?) and the 2nd floor is an old-school tailor. The apartment itself is...small. Maybe 16' square in toto, with the kitchen implements randomly jumbled into a nook in the corner. No counter space whatsoever except a cheap pressboard stand-alone unit someone shoved in there at some point, which is maybe 2 feet square. One picks one way through this cubby to get to the bathroom, which is also tiny, and has the most peculiar old-timey tub: it's like

nedlnthred's, an old deep curvy iron one, but only half the length, with a shower sending down into it. The windows face behind, so not much street noise, and there's a reasonable amount of light and privacy. No laundry, of course.

So it's small and it's kind of aged and the kitchen sucks, but...it's so very old-timey. There's what has to be an original fake fireplace mantel, in marble, with some Art Deco-ish finishes on it; the floor is a beautiful fancy wood pattern; the sink itself is, I think, possibly original. There's a window seat (just powder-painted metal, yes, but) under one of the two windows--the other having the radiator inside a same-looking containment thingie. These interior details charm me in the way that the exterior details of #9 charmed me. Dither, dither.