There are days when I walk around my neighborhood just to soak up the nuances that make it so gorgeous. For so long, this part of the City seemed like a foreign land to me, especially the utter quiet that would ensue after banking hours and on the weekends.
I remember walking around, pregnant with my daughter, longing for my friends in the East Village. There, I had so many neighborhood people with whom I had day-to-day relationships. There was an Indian grocer who loved to haggle with me in a loud voice. I would sometimes sit at home making up certain, special insults for him, and when I went into his store, he would teach me all kinds of other, special insults. Then, after several minutes of this back and forth, he would add a gooey brightly colored sweet in with my purchases for free, and we would smile at each other.
Two best friends in their 40’s and 50’s would invite me over for fresh baby coconut, opened at the eye with a small hammer. We would sit out on the tiny terrace and giggle like teenagers sucking out the water and scooping out the flesh with a straw.
The messes of friends who put up with all my messes and I with theirs.
I would long for the simple diversity without which life seemed a little paler:
Where are the girls in Japanese street fashion?
Where are the boys with the piercings all over and their ubiquitous pit bulls?
Where are the grannies and grampies push push pushing their carts up the street, pausing for moments to talk to one another or themselves or to catch a breath?
Where can we go to eat a pierogi at 3 am and tuck into a big cone of belgian frites at 4?
Tribeca took a while to grow on me. Where my love for my old neighborhood was instant and passionate, falling in love with Tribeca happened cautiously and only began to take place when I took time to notice the details. Here, you could swoon over the little flowers and gargoyles and nooks and crannies.
A good friend from our neighborhood just told us that she and her family, all dear friends to the big ones and little ones in our family, are moving far away in a month.
My heart sank with the news. How precious they are, this beautiful family with whom I feel such a connection. It turns out that it is not just the small architectural details that have slowly turned this place into home, but also the rare friendships.
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