Dear Reader,
As you know, I was gentrified out of my Bed-Stuy apartment with the threat of rent doubled, the first year.
Months of looking for "affordable" housing with oddly specific financial issues (which included an 800 + credit score & NO DEBT) left me a drained emotional wreck.
After nine months of fruitless searching, I found myself in an unknown neighborhood. Blinded by hopelessness & fatigue, I said yes to the 1st one bedroom I saw not requiring a co-signer.
I finally had a place to live. I announced on Face Book with great fanfare, "My new location is Sound View in the Bronx!" A reply of "Are you crazy?!", slingshot me back to depression. My respnose? I pressed unfriend on her page.
Yes I was crazy & tired. That's why I bought (??!!) a
co-op in a grimy, (unbeknownst to me) infamous crime neighborhood, where I didn't speak the language.
It's a year since I've moved to the Bronx.
My 2 room leak was fixed.
I do constant behavioral therapy... Like, when asked how I like where I live? "It's fine." I lie & try to smile.
Yesterday a neighbor causally mentioned that when she'd seen someone thrown off the fire escape, she moved to a rear facing apartment.
How do I like where I live?
It's fine.
Rhonda Hansome is a writer, comic & director. She directs Ugly Is A Hard Pill, July 16 @ 9 PM, July 18 @ 1 PM & July 19 @ 6 PM Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th St. NYC (9th & 10th Ave) Keef & Lena are both bi-sexual. Their love lives are scandalous!
Click for tickets.
Oy. I have to say that Ruben Diaz Jr. is a very responsive borough president. If you alert him to your concerns, he may increase safety measures. He's had blocks better lit, more police presence if possible (if that's helpful -- it can go either way sometimes as we know), he tries it seems.
You look mahvelous! See you on 7/16, opening night!
Thanks Mindy. I'm reaching out to representatives & community organizations. I'll check out Diaz. See you at Hudson Guild!