IN THE NEWS

Today's edition of the New York Times featured a large scale aerial view photo of our very own Abingdon Square.  The image was taken from the same perspective as out apartment's view, however we are on the third floor, so we see the the trees rather than the tree tops from our bedroom.  In this photo, however you can see our first New York apartment just across the square.  If you look to the top of the photo it is the melon colored building mid block. The article accompanying the photo is all about how living near small, parks in the city offers light, breathing room, and a sense of intimacy.  We both feel quite lucky to have landed here, remembering back to that summer in 2007 when Nathan and I spent a fast and furious weekend with a broker visiting 12 apartments in two days trying to find a place to live before we moved here.  The converted 1 bedroom on Abingdon Square was the last apartment of the 12 that we saw, just hours before our flight back to Cali.  It was small, just about 500 square feet or so, but the kitchen and bath had been remodeled and, as the article mentioned, the light was fabulous.  The park view added such charm.  We loved the greenery, the shady serenity of the the tall trees, the beautiful landscaping, and the lovely mix of people sitting on the benches that border the park. We joked it was our front yard with company over all the time. When we decided to move to a slightly larger apartment a little over a year later, we did not go far, just across the square in fact.  We loved the neighborhood, the light, and of course, the park.  The bummer part of the article is, with such great press, the rent is sure to take a hike.

ABINGDON SQUARE PARK, a 0.222-acre triangle of greenery in the West Village, is not a place that requires much time for exploration. A lap of its curving byways, around a manicured garden island, takes just a minute or two. Indeed, most everyone there on a recent sunny Saturday was partaking in the square’s main day-to-day activity: sitting on benches.

Yet that is a pleasure, devotees say, that should not be understated. For neighbors of the park it is a place to read, to sit quietly in the shade, to meet friends and in general to retreat from the busy streets just a few steps away. The advantages of life near a big park, with acres of forest and lawn, are well known and well chronicled. But living on a square like Abingdon, or any of a handful of other patches of greenery tucked in around New York, is a more intimate and private experience.  

“It’s not Central Park; it’s not Prospect Park; it’s not Battry Park,” he said. “You kind of lose yourself in those kinds of parks. In the smaller parks, you find yourself.”