The View from the Riviera

Hello! I call this "The View from the Riviera," because that is where I live. Alas, not the real Riviera, the French one, but the building in Manhattan at 790 Riverside Drive, where I have lived since it went co-op in 1985. I live with my husband, two children, and two cats. We have a huge, 4 BR, 3 bath apartment with south and west facing views down along the Hudson and across to New Jersey.

The views, along with the 9-1/2 foot ceilings, the huge rooms, and the proximity to the West Side Highway, are the main reasons we are still here. When we are here, we have alot of room to be here, and when we want to leave, we can get out quick.

I am, I think, the only resident real estate broker living here at the moment. There have been many in the past, some of whom moved in primarily to sell apartments here, as if that gave them some kind of legitimacy not afforded the outside brokers who work this building, of which there are many. Not that I have anything against the outside brokers; I do not. Some of them are fine people. Two of them in particular live not in the building, but in the immediate neighborhood, which gives them insight into the many joys, sorrows, secrets and advantages of living "up here". Or, as the Inwood brokers would say, "down there".

I write this on the eve of our Board Election. This one is particularly contentious, with various candidates accosting shareholders in the elevator, in the lobby, and on the street, begging for their proxy. This morning, an anonymous missive was shoved under our door, lambasting two of the candidates by name, and accusing them of being "angry" and "out of touch".

Well, perhaps they are, and perhaps I agree. What I do know is that we pay alot of maintenance, plus an assessment, and that part of the wall in my daughter's bedroom is riddled with crumbling plaster, despite the previous managing agent's promise to have it fixed. Two years ago.

So I don't give a damn who gets elected to the Board tomorrow night, in fact, I will probably vote for all new people who are not yet angry, out of touch, and hashing out some years-old grudge with other would-be board members. Because, in spite of all the problems, the crumbling plaster, the temperamental elevators, and the maintenance, this is still one helluva grand building, and I have a fabulous view of the river. Like the song says, "I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles".

So, if you want to buy, or sell, your Riviera apartment, feel free to give me a call. If not, by all means, say hello, but please, leave me alone.

Donna White
Wohlfarth & Assocs.
917-690-4712
dwhite@wohlfarth.com
donna.white790@gmail.com