Rhys as in Witherspoon: Pun Intended

In New York CIty, apartments are everywhere, and I'm not just talking about the high rises you see. Apartments are hidden and tucked in just about everywhere you look, most often above store fronts and food venues.

In my second apartment I lived in, I was living on the Upper East Side on 2nd Avenue, between 88th and 89th Streets, above a restaurant/bar called Elaine's. I never saw people my age in there, so I didn't go check it out myself for a while. A friend of mine informed me that it was a very famous New York establishment, which I never expected living in such an unchic area of town.

Over time I heard more and more about it and finally ventured in one time with some friends. Once inside, it was easy to tell that every person in there was a regular and that we were clearly foreigners. The walls were lined with framed playbills and autographed movie posters, and a large elderly woman sat on the edge of her chair at a table near the front, her eyes framed with abnormally large round glasses. The two friends I was with had been there before and knew immediately that the key was to make nice with the bartender, and then everyone else's gaze would come off of you.

This was not a bar for a young twenty-something trying to make it in the fashion industry; this was a bar for famous authors pulling up in limousines, actors who were in their prime in the 1970s, and any sort of professionals over 40 years old and making six figures. Clearly, I did not fit in, but it was still a place to be experienced. The famed name most commonly associated with this bar is Woody Allen, who filmed a scene there in his film, "Manhattan." Over the course of the 2 1/2 years I lived in that apartment, I can't count how many times I came home to see film crews setting up outside the restaurant.

The even cooler thing? Elaine, herself, owned the entire building, which meant that I was renting an apartment from her.

I have since moved from that apartment this past fall, and Elaine actually has passed away. I am now living in a quite different neighborhood of Midtown East, in an area called Sutton Place. The dynamic in this neighborhood is quite different, but I like that I am not so far uptown. Once again I am living above a store-front and a restaurant. On one side is Madison Diner, which is pretty much straight out of Seinfeld and constantly packed with customers wanting their mediocre food. On the other side is something quite contrary: a "novelty" store, creatively named Come Again. I have inserted a photo as evidence.

I know Elaine would be so proud.