Attention New Yorkers!

http://www.markdavidny.com/search_result.asp

Here's something to sink your teeth into. Did I see you sputtering coffee from out of your mouth?

It gave me an error...

Ok, so i just typed in markdavidny.com and HOLY CRAP! I knew it was expensive to live there but DANG!

Thanks!!!

Years ago, a friend of mine moved to the Village. He invited us to his apartment, which was a studio. He was a rich kid, and the place was beautifully furnished. The problem was, that you could hardly turn around in it, it was so tiny.

If you notice, very few of the apartments show the square footage!

Last week's issue of New York mag had a good review of prices for apartments and co-ops. There's usually a short feature in each issue comparing a couple of apartments that are for sale. A coupla issues back, the feature was on how to determine how much you'd need to retire comfortably in Manhattan - lots of cost info in there.

You'd probably be best off spending some time there because the atmosphere in different parts of the city is sooooooo different - and all are very specifically Manhattan. You can't mistake the vibe for anywhere else.

I really want to go. My mom visited a while back and said there is nothing like it.

Bella -I always thought the saying "write what you know" was a good one. It's one thing to write about a totally fictional place or a place in the past, but to do a current place you really have to go there and interpet it for yourself as a writer. I lived in NYC/Brooklyn from the age of 17 to 30 during the late 70's and 80's. I spent part of that time as an art punk and later as in high tech sales on Wall St, my experiences could fill a book, but just telling you about riding the G train at midnight, using the back door at St. Patrick's, strolling the gardens at the Cloisters, trying to find a cab at rush hour, seeing famous people buying lettuce etc. just cannot compare to the actual experience.

I guess you could start by getting the standard guide books for accurate locations, you can find maps on line. I would also suggest you subscribe to the NY Times, the Village Voice and even a rag like The NY Post. However, I really think you need to spend some time there to really soak it in. Maybe Kicky will need a roommate soon.

I was thinking about it at lunch and I think you are right Greeny (like the new nickname?). I think I will set it somewhere fictional and that will make my life so much easier and the story more believable because no one will say, "hey, there is no such place" or "the village is nothing like that".

Why not set it someplace you know really well, Bella?

You can get some texture that way that's really unbeatable.

Robertson Davies set some of his books in my hometown. 60 or 70 years after he wrote the books the location is still unmistakeable as a result of the intensity of his description.

Why not set it someplace you know really well, Bella?

You can get some texture that way that's really unbeatable.

Robertson Davies set some of his books in my hometown. 60 or 70 years after he wrote the books the location is still unmistakeable as a result of the intensity of his description.

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymag/toc/14961/

the table of contents page for last week's New York mag - look under Vu - it's all about housing costs <and amenities>

Aside from actually going to New York, there is no way to get the full feeling of the city and so your writing will be set in a place but the inner emotions will still be left untapped. Is there any way you might be able to sometime soon swing a trip there? If not there are other ways to go...Among other things do some internet look-arounds and then while you are at it go to the New York Times on line and click New York/Region and then look at the City section. It will get you some info on various neighborhoods also the NYTimes will give you info on restuarants and theater and museums and art galleries etc.

While you are at it check out the Village Voice on-line there too you will find information on various neighborhoods and cultural matters.

I remember alot about growing up in New York City.
I never lived in Manhattan or Brooklyn but I did visit.

One amazing I remember is the sounds and smells.
In Manhattan its always the hussle and bustle of the never ending rat race. I remember the smells of the hot dog vendors and the restaurants drifting out into the streets.

The sounds of cars and honking horns everyday. Sidewalk vendors yelling out at you. Construction going on all the time and sounds of jackhammers and such. You'd walk down a street that was incased in scafeling that you had to walk under. The sound of public buses stopping and starting and braking in their usual way. Manhatan subways were mostly underground. The diversity was amazing. You'd have business people dressed to the tee wearing running shoes to get to work.
Depending on the time of day you rode it might be so packed you barely make it in the door and struggle to fing a pole in the center of the train to hold onto to. You were basically incased in human bodies and the smell of cologne and good old fashioned body order was everywhere. Bagladies and street musicians. I remember the feeling of being a tiny worker ant in a huge jungle of concrete.

Brooklyn had the above ground subways that ran underground depending what part of the city you were going. We had an above ground subway in the part of the city where I grew up and I got used to hearing the train go by and sometimes it would cause vibrations. Also around the time I visited Brooklyn their were complete sections of neighborhoods that were irish or italian or jamaican. it was as if an entire culture flocked within a few square blocks. In the Bronx Arthur Ave was a well known italian neighborhood and others were careful not to venture in that territory.

I could go on for days really about the subway poets and the homeless lady that wore lipstick all over her face, little italy, China town, sitting on the rooftops during yankee games with lawn chairs and beer, Times Square on New years Eve, the sound of clopping horse drawn carriages.

Oh well I don't know if that helped you at all if you had something you specifically wanted to know I could tell you about just let me know.
I'm writing a book too but Good luck on yours!