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Check out the street level and you’ll see the exterior of my first apartment in New York. At $800/month this one bedroom apartment was truly a steal.

I was living in Stamford, CT before this in a TINY studio. The all caps almost isn’t jusitified the place was that small. The studio was a little room in the basement of a two family household in Stamford. It had a little white picket fence to enter through, to my own door. When you move out into your own place, having your own door and getting to shop for your own groceries are both very exciting. I had my own parking spot which was also cool. The room was essentially laid out so that you walk in the door and immediately to your left is the sink and cabinets. Notice I didn’t say ‘kitchen sink’. It was more of a food prep counter and sink than it was an actual kitchen. To your immediate right (careful) was the fridge. Squeezed into the little corner next to that was a table top for two. Technically it was for two, but I was pretty much the only person that ate there. The space was so small, all company that came over would have to eat on the floor a la picnic style. Squeezed in behind that was an old red recliner that my family had since I was born. I loved that thing.

Extend the chair out all the way and the end of the recliner foot rest would touch the desk. Touching the desk on the other side was my entertainment center. I use entertainment center loosely because I had only a stereo that played cassette tapes and didn’t receive a signal…a television that was hooked up to a VCR that only played tapes rented at Blockbuster as it was connected to a bunny ear reception set up that was merely done for show. No channels were received. I had a little black and white television on top of the ‘2 top kitchen table’ and it only got ABC and CBS, ABC however was the only thing that came in clearly. Little 5 inch screen. Monday Night Football isn’t all that impressive on it, but hey, at least it was something. On the other side of the entertainment center was the foot of the bed.

At the end of the bed was the wall that touched the bathroom (on the other side of it). Crammed in behind the bed was a closet I could only use 2/3’s of because the bed blocked the lower 1/3 to use it comfortably. The bathroom was super tiny. And on the other side of the other wall in the bathroom? The counter with the sink. My landlord in CT was a guy named Paul who loved to knock on my door unannouced and ask if I wanted to get coffee. He would ask, I’d say sure and even if I was on the phone, he’d yell and be like “Wanna get coffee?” Yes. “WELL, COME ON!” Paul. What a character.

I had some great memories in that little studio however, considering I was paying $600/month for that space plus $300/month train into the city, $800/month in Astoria Queens was a steal. No more metro north? Sold. I’d only have to take the subway back and forth everyday and that would be MUCH cheaper. The apartment was a true one bedroom. It was the most glamorous apt in New York but it was mine and I felt like Jerry Seinfeld in it. I was living in New York pursuing my comedy career and that was all that mattered.

The space had a huge living room with really tall ceilings and hardwood floors. An eat in kitchen, a full bath and a giant bedroom with enough room for a desk, a queen bed and lots of boxes I decided to NEVER unpack. There was room in the living for the old recliner and good ‘ol entertainment center however NOW I would get four network channels!! That’s right…FOUR! Unreal. I also now had room for a hand-me-down futon from a friend, a basketball hoop to shoot hoops on and a foosball table. 

Brilliant. I’m sure I would have played much more foosball if I had a ‘Joey’. I didn’t but it was still a cool feature to have in my new pad.

Parking in Astoria was atrocious. Alternate side of the street parking is always interesting and often it would take me anywhere between half hour (rare) to an hour and a half (likely) finding a spot where I could leave my car over night and then move it again the next day. Only Wednesdays and Sat/Sun were the days it didn’t matter where your car was. Of course, Sat and Sun were always travel days where I was away doing comedy so I didn’t gain much on those non-alternate-side-of-the-street-parking days.

I would take the N train in and out of Astoria to the city and back doing gigs around the city or hanging at clubs, networking. It was an amazing time in my life. It felt like I had received my BA in Communications in CT and now I was off to grad school, focusing on what I wanted to do with my life: comedy.

My first manager’s office ended up being a 10 minute walk from me in Astoria. She was great to me. Regularly booked solid weekends, hooked me up with a commercial agent, had me freelance with a few legit agents and was one of my first champions. It was a thrill to be in New York, a young comic looking to land a break in the industry, already with representation only a few years in and in New York City nonetheless.

I spent countless hours on my little Compaq laptop on a TV tray writing scripts and material in that little apartment. I had a great landlord there who treated me like family and a great neighborhood around me. 

Moving to New York City on a whim and a prayer was the most adventurous thing I had done at the time, no doubt about it.

A big part of it was the experiences I had coming and going, to gigs and meetings and auditions and crappy day jobs and each and every time I’d leave or come back, that little building was the place I was coming from/going to. 

That door on the right and building attached helped make my pursuit of a career in comedy possible. 

We sure had some good times. I hope whomever lives there now is having just as cool of an adventure as well.