Apartments of NYC

I have been in many fantastic apartments in New York - some with amazing views, some in amazing architectural buildings, also some in dreadful places - but my absolute favorite of all apartments is on the stretch of Broadway not far from Flatiron. What a pearl that is hidden here behind a gritty facade with a peeled-off advertising poster at one side of the building. This non boasting exterior makes it thus an even greater surprise upon entering the apartment on the top floor after a rockery ride in an old elevator. 

I was invited to a design event in this apartment, and at once when I entered I knew I had been here before - bizarre when you know that it is absolutely the very first time you step into this place. 

Check out the Woody Allan film "Melinda and Melinda" and I think you might guess which apartment I am thinking of, if I give you a second or two ........
Yep, the artsy one with the great view to Empire State Building. 
How often does this happen to you in New York? You know you are there for the very first time in your life and still you feel so much like home. An amazing amount of popular films are recorded in NYC, so wherever you go, you recognize something on the streets or inside buildings. 

But even if an apartment gives you that buzz, watch out! Once, we were looking to rent, my husband found a place in a cosy townhouse on the Upper East Side. He knew I would love the place the minute I would go through the door, so he decided never to show it to me, as he had this strange feeling something was wrong with the place, even if he could not point out exactly what. Needless to say I was pretty upset that I could not visit this lovely apartment. A few weeks later, we read that the house had blown up in a gas explosion. It was a rather tragic story where the man of the house had decided to blow up the house, so that his estranged wife could not claim it at their divorce, with the result he died in this explosion. My husband's gut feeling turned out to be correct. More amazing is that you hear similar stories of 'strange' places all over New York from people who have live in this town for a while.