Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Apartment/Neighborhood Update


Check out my new place!  That pink thing is supposed to be me (I WISH I was so skinny) waving to you from my balcony.  Yes, I have a balcony now - which overlooks the Virgin Mary shrine my across-the-street neighbor meticulously maintains.

My building is 3 floors - the first floor is a doctor's office, the second floor belongs to the building owner's daughter (and her young family), and the 3rd floor is our 3-bedroom apartment.  Most of the buildings in the neighborhood look similar to mine - VERY different from Manhattan.

My roommate Tim is really nice, straight, and is never home.  And he was able to put my loft bed together in no time flat AND he likes my kitties.  However, Tim is practically young enough to be my son.  And when I say "practically", I mean "totally".

As far as the neighborhood goes, I think I'm falling in love with it.  Astoria has traditionally been the Greek neighborhood of NYC (our landlord is Greek), but my section of Astoria is very Latin.  OK - so maybe I'm not falling in love with my NEIGHBORHOOD, as much as I'm falling in love with every other Papi I pass on the street.  Seriously - it's distracting.

There is one problem with my neighborhood, however.  It is filled with all the Dollar and Discount stores I VOWED to stay out of once I moved.  I can already tell that this one store will be a problem for me ...


El Mundo Discount Department Store - despite what this old Google Street View image says - is still VERY much in business.  And I must pass it every day to get on the Subway.  It is three levels of dirt cheap cleaning supplies, socks & underwear, Virgin Mary Shrines, and all-around fabulousness.  In other words - Heaven.

I purchased a short-sleeve polo shirt there yesterday.  It cost me $3.20 ...

10 comments:

Eric Arvin said...

Gotta love the balcony!

the dogs' mother said...

So glad you are settled and feeling at home. Give the kitties a big hug!

Bob said...

Aaaah, a straight man who's handy with tools. Every gay home should come so equipped.

The new place looks quite lovely.

XOXOXOXO

me said...

Who doesn't love a bargain? Good luck with the new apartment

Anonymous said...

Ah, the days of living in Queens---the row-houses with the white metal balconies, the Hispanic/ethnic neighborhoods, the dollar stores and Trade Fair and botanicas and 99 cent stores....

We have a little of that in Jersey City, too, but gentrification is really strangling the look of the place, which is good in many ways, but you lose those cute ethnic places and the entire locale goes to yuppie hell.

Joy said...

Inside photos coming soon?

Joy said...

Thanks for the pictures. It's so good to be able to know what it looks like where you live. Take those opportunities at the discount stores to check out the papis instead of buying things you don't need. I like that idea of not bringing anything into the house without taking something else out. Haven't done it but aspire to it.

Mistress Maddie said...

Oh girl! It looks very different from Mannathan but sounds like you will fit right in! And the papi number per capita is probably higher! Yea, between the papi's and the dollar stores your screwed!

Ken Riches said...

Sounds great, and so good about the Kittehs.

mrs.missalaineus said...

i love it. we have a bakery in greektown called the astoria bakery and i see the connection now!

cant wait to see the inside!

xxalainaxx

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