The magic of paint!

I'm making slow progress in sprucing up my new place. Ramon, the wonder painter, has been scraping, plastering, priming and painting for days. It was so nice to come home today to color!  Take a look...      You'll also see the greatest mom in the world, who came to spend a few days with me to help with the move. Just like when I first moved to NYC, she was on hand to wash windows, scrub the stove and much more. The picture was taken just outside my apartment building, overlooking the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. There's something very San Francisco-ish about this place!

And just up the street is beautiful Ft. Tryon Park, a 66-acre masterpiece designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., son of co-designer of Central Park. (Olmsted Jr. and brother also designed Piedmont Park in Atlanta.) With its sloping terraces and stunning views, I think it's the most beautiful park in the city. It has the most dogwoods I've seen anywhere in the northeast!

It's also home to the Cloisters, a beautiful collection of portions of European abbies and courtyards, built by Rockefeller in the 1930s. It now houses part of the Metropolitan Museum's medieval collection. And there's even more history here, from the Revolution, but I won't bore you with that now.

And more:  living room, courtyard view, and the river!  My building is just a stone's throw from a footbridge that takes you across the highway to a riverside park. The bike trails lead all the way down to lower Manhattan. 

More photos of my place and my new 'hood. You cannot imagine how excited I am over the kitchen! Note that I've not moved in yet, so the furnishings aren't mine. Hopefully I'll (finally) close on the property this week!  

I'm buying an apartment! 

I never thought it would be possible for me to own real estate in Manhattan, but recently I learned of an area in northern Manhattan (barely still on the island) that

is an up-and-coming area with beautiful old buildings and value-priced properties. 

My friends Alf and Tanya purchased a two-bedroom place in this neighborhood late last year. As I visited them in early January and started looking around, I found I really liked it, in spite of its distance from midtown.

It's situated on the highest spot of Manhattan island, near Ft. Washington, where we nearly lost the revolutionary war! It's also right near the Hudson River and Riverside Park, with it's bike and walking trails that go all the way to lower Manhattan. 

And I'll be just a few blocks from beautiful Ft. Tryon Park, with on of NYC's treasures, the Cloisters. This museum is housed in a European abbey, and is part of the Metropolitan Museum. It feels like a true little neighborhood, with good amenities, friendly folk, beautiful art deco architecture (except for mine, built in the 50s!) and no high rise buildings. 

So this week, I signed a contract on an adorable one-bedroom, 720 sq ft apartment in a lovely 192-unit co-op building called LaFayette Gardens. It's just off 181st street near the George Washington Bridge. (The bridge is really nice at night with its lights.) You may know that my apt now is on 52nd street on  the east side, near the East River. So yes, it is 129 blocks north!  

With the A express train right on 181st street, it's a pretty quick ride to the Empire State Building. My normal 25 o 30 min commute will go to about 45 minutes - more time to read!  And best of all, I'll have a normal-sized kitchen with a dishwasher!  

I have a great apt now, and will certainly miss it's charming pre-war  details, closets and numerous windows, but I certainly won't miss the 4x4 kitchen. 

I know these photos are tiny - I can't figure out how to make them larger. But, compared to the size of your homes, it IS a tiny apartment!

You can see the neighborhood on google maps here. Choose 'streetview' to actually see what it's like to walk down the street!