Phoebe Waterson recalls her first NY apartment

My first apartment in New York City was exactly the kind of place that you read about as the “first NYC apartment”. I shared a ‘two bedroom’ loft with a roommate. The first bedroom (mine) was a glorified closet. A room that I often thought I would use as a closet if I were ever able to afford this apartment alone. The second ‘bedroom’ was actually a room that we had sectioned off from the main area with several Ikea bookcases to create some semblance of privacy.

At first it was great. We didn’t care that we could hear EVERYTHING that the other person was doing, because we were living in an amazing loft in New York. In time, it became annoying that there was little privacy and was especially difficult as we entered into relationships. In the end, we chose to go separate ways, both moving into more ‘grown up apartments’.

But, I can honestly say that I learned some very valuable lessons from this first city experience. For example, I learned how to make the most out of a limited space (think bedroom that doubles as walk-in closet—thank you Ikea!), the importance of being nice to your super (so that he will come fix the leak in you ceiling on a Saturday morning!) and, that for better or worse, you will get to know your neighbors, whether you want to or not (the drummer upstairs with no regard to time of day or night, or the person across the hall that remains a friend, long after they move out of the building.)

Here’s hoping that my second New York City apartment will have as many memories and stories!