The walk from my apartment in Greenwich Village to my studio in Tribeca takes about twenty minutes, depending upon the route and whether I stop for a coffee and the Times. Invariably, though, it begins with a trip down the stairs.
Michael Sorkin, Twenty Minutes in Manhattan
Our new place reminds us of a lot of Michael Sorkin’s peon of praise to his hometown of New York… because 307 Murray Street isn’t just an office building – it’s a neighbourhood. Talking to one of our neighbours from up the stairs this morning, he began to apologise for walking past our little goldfish bowl meeting room. “I’m really sorry to intrude every morning” said he. “Not at all” was my response – and it is our view of it.
We really like that we bump into our 307 neighbours in 307. People walk along the verandah and down the stairs past our place to get lunch, attend a meeting, grab another coffee. We can close up our place when we need to but on a nice morning – even in the height of summer – we can open the doors and windows and stay connected to the life of our immediate community. It’s largely the accident of an old, “re-purposed” building, and thanks also to the foresight of Primewest, our landlords.
At Christmas time we debated how you might orchestrate such a thing in a new building. The harsh realities of net/gross make it hard – but it is more than worthy of the speculation.
Happy new year.
Fred, Justin, Jody, Michael and Catherine.
