Meeting 1990

My experience with 1990 Lexington Avenue began during the heat-wave in late July, 2006. My recently found roommate and I had callously left ourselves with only a few weeks to find a new apartment before our present lease in Bedford-Stuyvesant expired. He, a green teacher in the Bronx and myself, a greener construction project assistant in Midtown, immediately set our sights on upper-Manhattan. Craigslist yielded an ad for an apartment on Adam Clayton Powell and another, boasting a great view, on Lexington Avenue. After a long, hard day in the construction trade, my roommate and I rendezvoused with a real estate broker on 125th street.
Racing down the corridor from 125th to 122nd we passed a smattering of homeless people, raucous youths and your everyday, upstanding Harlemites. After a few months of residing in BedStuy and working in Manhattan, nothing phased me. The broker, however, was talking fast and walking faster. Part of me perceived it as aggressive salesmanship, but his wavering tone and trembling hands, which fumbled around for the correct key to open the main door to the brick tower, lead be to believe otherwise. Upon entering the lobby of 1990, my first thought was of a being in a run-down school building. The tan-latex-paint-covered bricks in the lobby and the brown elevator doors looked like remnants of what was once considered modern architecture by public sector standards.
Upon stepping out of the elevator on the 33rd floor, the aesthetics remained consistent with the lobby. The temperature had risen about 20 degrees, bringing the Fahrenheit reading to triple-digits. We raced for the rightmost corridor and found ourselves at a brown door surrounded by more tan-painted brickwork. The door opened to a fairly large living area (by Manhattan standards) and a sliding glass door which separated the living room from a long and narrow terrace.
By the time the four of us returned into the apartment after witnessing the view of all of East Harlem, Queens, the South Bronx and the Upper East Side of Manhattan, we were all but sold. A quick inspection of the two bedrooms introduced us to a walk-in closet, shoddy sheetrock and more tan paint. According to the real estate agent, the bedrooms would be upgraded to wall-to-wall carpeting and the living room would have “wood” flooring installed. The kitchen already had brand new black appliances and beautiful wood cabinetry.
After a brief viewing of the apartment on Adam Clayton Powell, we opted for the 33rd story 2-bedroom on the top floor of 1990 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10035.