Goodbye, WTC View....Hello, Astoria

First, my apologies as writing on the blog here has been spotty lately. But the reason is that I've been busy working on a major life transition. After weeks of planning and packing, today is my last day in my apartment in Greenwich Village. An opportunity came up to have a place of my own in Queens so I am heading out of Manhattan and losing my "WTC View", featured in both the play and film I wrote of the same name. 

However, to be honest, I actually lost that view on 9/11...the new World Trade Center cannot be seen from my bedroom window like the last one could, as its location is now slightly to the west of where the old twin towers were. I can see One WTC though, when I leave my apartment directly at the end of Sullivan Street (here's a pic I took yesterday). I was skeptical about the new tower at first but have to admit that it now looks amazing. And, fittingly enough, they topped it out a couple weeks ago and just finished the facade work last week. So, as I leave my apartment, it's complete...at least on the exterior.  

I am making the move from the Village to Astoria, where I have a new place that has more space and even a backyard. It will be a big change after all these years in the Village. I moved here in 1989 to attend NYU film school and lived in 3 different apartments all within a roughly 4 block radius of each other. So I've been in the hood more than 23 years! But I'm excited for my new neighborhood and my new borough too. I'm now only a few blocks from the famed Kaufman Astoria studio (one of the first film backlots of the silent era), which is now home to lots of film/TV production (including SESAME STREET!). It also houses the Museum of the Moving Image, which has a wonderful cinema and repertory schedule which I look forward to checking out.

For those who want to contact me, my email and phone remains the same (though no more landline,  not that anyone would notice!).  The address has changed so if you have any housewarming gifts (!) or Christmas letters, drop me an email and I'll send the details. And I'm a 15 minute subway ride from midtown so visiting is easy. Anyway, the NYC adventure continues as I move on up, to the far east side ;) Thanks for the memories, Manhattan!