Movers arrived a little after 1, and were done a little after 2. Everything I took out of the apartment fit in one storage unit with a little room to spare. Immediate reactions: I could have taken twice as much, and I could have done without any of it. I suppose I'll go downstairs and have a look at it all at some point.
Around 5, got a call from the closeout consultant in New York. The dealer is finished, the apartment is cleared out and swept clean. The super came by and told her that she didn't need to do any cleaning - the guy next door, the one who's taking it over, is going to knock down walls and have 12 rooms all to himself. The super went on about the amount of money the guy is spending. I had a moment of complete revulsion - thinking again about the number of times he came to the door and asked my father if he'd leave - and considered putting a curse on the place, opera-style. Thought better of it. The impulse is natural for me - I'm an ill-tempered person - but that kind of thing never works out well. So I'll pass on the curse and the consultant and I agreed to finish the cleanup. We're going to do things right on our end.
And that's it. Last ties to New York are cut after nearly 50 years. I suppose it was past time. No real regrets. The fact is, it's not the same New York. Handing over the apartment to Neighbor Guy underscores it. The old West Side is gone and the whole city belongs to the money culture now. The last week I was up there, I had dinner with someone I used to work with. He asked what was going on and I told him and he got all excited and told me that "the really important thing is you've got to get that apartment!" It's like a disease. They're welcome to it. Good night and good luck.
Now the action moves down here. Just got an e-mail from M/3, the local care manager, who visited my father today. Said he was doing well and kept asking when he'll see his parents. Everybody survived the visit to the urologist's yesterday, and there were no upsets. Meds now include a daily 100mg dose of Neurontin, and so far it seems to help. Re: the PSA score, they want to monitor and follow up in three months, but no big interventions are planned. The whole approach to treatment continues to seem sensible. She also reported that he went to a cooking activity today and "even beat the eggs in a bowl!" Reading the exclamation point, I had a sudden impression of him when he was whole and felt ill. But I'm glad she's enthusiastic and I guess I agree that small things are worth celebrating.
Tomorrow I'll try for a pre-Thanksgiving visit and see how things look.
No, it's not the same New York. A lot of the money culture stuff is awful. Who wants to live in a glass condo? Starbucks on every corner -- where are the coffee shops? Where are the newsstands? What I hate is how homogeneous this town has become. Bleecker St. is an outdoor shopping mall. The cafes are gone. Places with character get the life renovated out of them.
Individuality isn't what it used to be -- that's the part I miss. Everything is so corporate now, and you can't ever get a person on the telephone. Some of the blame goes to cyber culture: there's a certain distance there, no matter how many "instant messages" you send.
My dry cleaner and favorite restaurant disappeared when that part of the block became an assemblage for a new condo that, in this market, is never going to happen.
So now we have a hole in the ground, corner of 79th & 3rd. It is weird to walk by.
Yes, New York as you knew it is gone. But some of us remain, perhaps too stunned to move.
Posted by: Nancy Frank | November 27, 2009 at 10:35 PM