The Sutton

The Sutton, 959 First Avenue

I was walking around the neighborhood a couple of days ago trying to get a better feel for what was nearby, looking for places of interest, earmarking restaurants, etc. I was walking south and saw a big residential high-rise going up, "The Sutton". The architecture was interesting, a lot of brick which you don't typically see nowadays. I looked at the website. There's a video that describes the building--it looks to be very high-end--and the Sutton Place neighborhood. Of course, they feature the most quaint and picturesque businesses...a florist, a fish store, and a cheese shop (they get a LOT of play, I guess they didn't want to show a regular ol' D'Agostino's or Dunkin' Donuts). They also stretch the definition of what constitutes 'Sutton', including Beekman Place. Methinks the denizens of that adorable enclave would take exception to this somehow. The other thing you notice is that they're clearly going for a younger/stylish/affluent customer. This neighborhood is many things and, ahem, young is not one of them. Oh well, that's progress I guess. :)
Check out the building's website and video here.

Christmas at Sutton Place

I must say my building goes all out for the holiday decorations. I had to miss the building's Christmas party in the lobby, but I do get to enjoy all the lovely decorations and the huge tree. It's so nice to come home and see that fireplace burning before I get on the elevator. Here's a shot of the lobby, there's also more nearer the front door and outside the building as well. Very pretty.

Moved in! FINALLY!!

Yes, the day finally came. The one I'd been waiting almost TWELVE MONTHS for.
I was able to start actually living in The Beautiful Wreck last Thursday night. I haven't been able to post anything to this blog because I didn't have internet hooked up yet (more on that later).
Here's a brief rundown on what's been happening. Mostly I've been trying to get out from under all the boxes, boxes, boxes. How can so much STUFF fit into a tiny studio apartment?

The last week's mood

THURSDAY, DEC 17TH:
My nephew came into town for a brief winter NY vacation with some friends of his. He flew in this morning and I met him at his friends' hotel, the Yotel, just off 42nd St and 10th Avenue. We went for breakfast and then I took him uptown to Tony's apartment, he was going to stay there now that I was officially out (Tony was kind enough to rent it to him for 5 days as he was in New Orleans for the holidays). I went straight to the apartment to see how things were progressing and to drop off some more clothes. It was a mess. The electrician and painters were everywhere, dust was thick, and there were big sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling all around the mantel. They were going to polish it and didn't want marble dust to scatter throughout the place. I hightailed it out of there because there was no room for me hang out. I wandered around the neighborhood. I went to Home Depot to buy cleaning supplies that I was going to need. Then I went to CB2 to look at a little bistro table I'd been eyeing for the dining niche. I was just killing time. The worst part was that it was POURING rain. Just perfect, right? I got back around 4:45 and the two cleaning ladies were just finishing up. The place looked as presentable as it could be with a TON of boxes crowded into it. The best part was that the plastic was down and the mantel looked AMAZING. If I liked it before I LOVED it now. It looked brand new, a pure white Carrera marble.

The mantel polished, now pure white

A close up of the marble

I could't ask for anything better and I'm now thinking it's my very favorite thing in the entire apartment.
And after all the storm and drank over the windows, they are amazing to look at. It was (almost) all worth the worry/panic/sweat/tears. I have no idea whatsoever how they got those heavy things installed...I'm just glad it's all over and they look great. Here's one of them...

The window behind my desk

FRIDAY, DEC 18TH:
I couldn't stay in the apartment today because the mantel wall with the built-in shelves was getting painted the high gloss gray ("Cape May Cobblestone"). Again, I made myself scarce, running errands, going to the gym (I'm a member of Equinox til the end of the month, then I'll start using the gym in the building). The gray looked great. Now, to start on those boxes. Do you remember that episode of "I Love Lucy"when Lucy and Ricky were moving to Connecticut but all their moving boxes were crammed into Fred and Ethel's apartment and nobody could move, it was a funny maze getting around?

I was just like Lucy and her moving boxes

Well that's the way it was for me. I had to go around all these boxes just to get into bed!

This picture is just a FRACTION of all the boxes

I must say my SECOND favorite thing has got to be the shower. Steve did a great job designing that bathroom. The tiles that go all the way up the walls to the ceiling are something to see, but it's that big rainshower showerhead that makes it a divine experience. I love it. I managed to unpack all the kitchen boxes today, no easy task...but the rest were going to take some time.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, DEC 19TH & 20TH:
I spent the entire weekend unpacking boxes and re-arranging the furniture. I tried the sofa so many ways...parallel to the mantel, up against the picture window, on a diagonal facing the fireplace, etc. My back was breaking by the end of the day. Ultimately, it looked best in the place we thought it would work from the beginning: right in front of the mantel looking straight on into the fireplace. Steve kept saying that was the only place for it but I wouldn't believe him. Anyway, it looks great there.

MONDAY, DEC 21ST:
Steve was going to come first thing this morning and we'd draw up a "punch list" of all the final details that still needed to be finished. After we were done it was THIRTY-SEVEN items long! All the light fixtures need to be installed, lots of paint touch-ups everywhere, the TV needs to be placed, the list goes on and on. It'll all get done...but when??

TUESDAY, DEC 22nd:
The Verizon guy came today to install my internet connection. It took him TWO AND HALF HOURS. It's a very involved process. He has to connect to wires in the bowels of the building, run the wiring up to my apartment, drill from the hallway into my apartment, and then hook up the router and modem. He gets there and says "where do you want the router and modem? I say over by the desk in the corner. He's like, "Alright, I'll have to run a cable along the ceiling and down this hallway over there." I was like "No, no, no, no, NO!!" I was NOT gonna have an ugly cable run across the top of those beautiful custom built closets OR across the top of the wood veneer wall. NO WAY.
So then he says "Well, we could keep them in the entry, run the cable from he hallway down the corner and they could hide behind this shelf." He meant the white cubby shelf I put in the entryway. I said "YES! Do it!" I knew I could paint the cable the dark gray of the hallway and you wouldn't notice it. Steve didn't care for that shelf but now it's hiding a LOT of sins and it's staying put.
So now the place is functioning and looking really good. I've left town for the holiday, I'm spending a few days in Sag Harbor. When I get back the next big task is hanging all the pictures...

Taming the beast

That BEAST of a window has been tamed

Both Steve, the architect, and Guillermo, the contractor, contacted me tonight to let me know that the big picture window, the one they nicknamed "The Beast" because it was so huge and heavy, WAS IN!! The welder was able to cut it in half, the workers got both pieces upstairs to the apartment, and they were positioned in place and joined back together. HALLELUJAH.
Tomorrow all the glass panes will be re-glazed back in place. Guillermo said he was 'very happy' and that everything looks really good. It wouldn't be an overstatement for me to say I'm OVERJOYED to hear this. I'll post new pics from Steve when he goes to see it tomorrow afternoon :)

A light at the end of the...window?

I got a call from Steve the architect this morning.
Here's the updated plan:
A welder will be on site TODAY to cut The Beast into two halves, this way it will be easier to get both pieces up the stairwell (or possibly the service elevator if they fit).



Also, the window panes will be removed to lighten the weight. Then they will install the both pieces in the window frame and secure them. TOMORROW the welder will return to weld the pieces back together and the panes will be re-glazed into the frames. Steve says any seam will be non-detectable. The window manufacturer is also sending extra matching paint to cover up any scratches or scrapes. So, fingers crossed, the whole thing should be finished by tomorrow or thursday at the latest. In the meantime, the other windows have all been installed and the finish trim work and tiling is being completed.
After that big window is finished then they'll be able to polish the mantel and paint the high-gloss mantel wall (the idea is to avoid as much dust as possible so as not to ruin the gloss finish when it's drying).
Any floor touch-ups will be done later, as will  any punch list items. I should be able to get into the apartment to live no later than friday night...but yours truly makes himself no promises. Stay tuned. Same bat time. Same batsh*t channel.

Rear window

Oh, how I wish this was a post about one of my favorite Hitchcock movies...BUT IT AIN'T, BLANCHE.

See Jimmy's window? That's about the size of mine...BUT HIS IS INSTALLED

No, that big damn window is still a BEAR of a situation.
Here's the latest:
I spoke to Gerry, the building's super, first thing this morning. He said he was going to speak to his boss at the management company to get permission for the workers to hoist the window up from the interior courtyard up the side of the building to my apartment. There was no indication of how long this would take but he did say it might involve having to get permission from all the tenants above and below me. This sounds ludicrous on the surface, but the way co-ops work in Manhattan, you can't 'inconvenience' anyone in the building without giving them sufficient notice beforehand. Maybe someone would be throwing a swanky party and they wouldn't want to look out their view and see a thousand pound window going by, who knows? Anyway, this avenue sounds very time consuming.
So I then shot off an email to Guillermo, the contractor, to ask if there was ANY way the window could be brought up inside the building. Here's what he said:

We know that the window cannot be bring (sic) from outside with the glasses in place, it's to (sic) heavy to carry and to (sic) heavy to bring it up with a rope.

The window is to (sic) big to be bring by the service elevator.

We are not 100% sure that we can bring the window thru the stairs, we would like to try it. I can bring enough muscles to maneuver it .

Another option is call an iron guy and hire them to cut the window in two pieces and re-weld it once is upstairs. Then we'll have to re-glue the glasses after the window is re-installed.

We had finished installation of 4 windows and we are doing detail work around them.

I have the glass guy on board and I'm trying to convince the iron guy to help me on this. 

Tomorrow, we should have a concrete plan how the big window will get upstairs.

So that's where it is, maybe bring it up without all the glass panes in place (Steve says this is what is making the thing so damn heavy), OR chop it in half and haul it up that way, and then re-assemble it upstairs. UGH.

None of this sounds easy but at least it's a plan, right? 

Fun times. Fun times.

A new attitude

I woke up with the worst headache this morning, I went to bed in a horrible mood, thinking about all that's gone wrong with this renovation lately. But I took four Advil...yes, four, I used to work on this brand and it's perfectly fine...and guess what? my headache was GONE in 20 minutes! Miracle product!
I decided "Ron, it's a new day". I decided to look at the glass half full. There's a lot that I should be happy about: Things are moving slowly, but they're moving in the right direction, AHEAD. The furniture move is over. No more storage fees. I got all that extra furniture out to the house. I can begin to sell it on Craigslist, that'll make a little cash. I have a place to stay. Can you imagine if I didn't have Tony's place, the BIND I'd be in? It's a Godsend that he's so flexible and doesn't mind me staying longer at his apartment. And best of all, the apartment IS looking great. I'm so happy with the amount of storage that Steve built in to the place. The kitchen and bath are beautiful. And once the windows are done it will ALL be wonderful. I should count my blessings. So onward. Call me Mr. Positive now. It's Christmastime, the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

And miles to go before I sleep

I drove back from the house this morning, mainly to get the rental car back because the rental place closes early on Saturdays. I brought back some things I didn't send to the storage facility, things that were fragile like breakable tchtotkes and lampshades. I took them to the apartment because I also wanted to see how things were looking. In a word, 'unfinished.'
Yes, two of the windows were in place, but they've got a lot of trim work around the edges to be completed.

One of the main room windows installed

And you know from my previous post the headache of the big picture window. That saga will have to be sorted out on Monday.
I hadn't seen the place filled with all my furniture and boxes yet. They're all in a big pile in the center of the room.





The bed is assembled. From what I can see it looks great...and so does the built-in 'nightstand' shelf beside it. The frame was designed for a queen sized bed and my full mattress is therefore a little small. My intention was to get a new one to fit when I moved in, but given how broke I am this one will have to suffice for the time being.

Bed with upholstered headboard covered in plastic

The bedside 'nightstand' is built-in

Then kitchen is all covered in plastic to protect it from all the dust.





And all the windows are placed around the apartment. It's all a mess but at least they're THERE finally.





I think I'm still at least a week out from settling in and sleeping in the place. It all depends on what happens with that picture window. All my fingers and toes are crossed for what the board decides, stay tuned.

The Beast

The windows installation began this morning and, as usual with this whole experience, there's good news and bad news.
The good: the windows are stunning. Very well made and handsome.
The bad: it's going to take much longer to install them than anticipated. This is a huge bummer in many ways. For one thing, they are BEYOND heavy. Steve, my architect, was onsite this morning and he said he couldn't pick up the smallest one, the bathroom one, by himself. The biggest one, the big picture window that spans almost the full length of the far wall in the main room is HUMONGOUS and steve estimated that it probably weighs 1000 lbs! It was supposed to come shipped in 4 pieces from the manufacturer...BUT THEY SENT IT ALL IN ONE PIECE. The contractor is trying to figure out just how they're going to hoist this thing--they're calling it "The Beast"--up on the sill in position so they can install it.

"The Beast"

Last I heard, they were going to have a powwow with the building Super, Gerry, to lift it by rope from the courtyard downstairs. This is FIVE flights up they'll have to go! I have NO IDEA how this is going to happen. There's also talk of taking out some of the window pane glass to lighten the weight of the thing. Then they'd re-install the glass when the frame is in place. I'm not going to worry about it at this point, it's their problem to solve. If I think too much about it I'll blow my brain out. UGH.
Let's talk about pretty things:
The shower head got fixed! It's very handsome NOW THAT'S IT'S RIGHT.

Shower head, CORRECTLY installed

And ONE window got installed, the bathroom window. Here are some shots pre-install and then how it looks afterward. It took 3 guys to lift this thing and get it in place, it's that heavy.









The plan was for me to spend my first night in the apartment tonight, but that's not gonna happen now. I'll come back to the city from the house tomorrow morning. I realized that trying to come back to the city on a Friday night AND a HOLIDAY Friday night was INSANE with all the traffic. I got the car rental place to only charge me a half day rate, so it's all fine. It'll be much more easy unloading the stuff I have to bring back without having to fight the craziness of Friday evening. I also didn't want to get in the way of those guys trying to tame The Beast...they've got enough to deal with.

UPDATE: Just got some texts from Steve...Gerry the Super is fine with bringing The Beast up to the apartment via the courtyard on the outside of the building BUT he wants The Board to approve it and that can't happen til MONDAY...AARGH. I'm praying they say yes as I don't know what the backup plan is. At least they got one other window installed in the main room, the one behind the desk area. I will stop by the place tomorrow and see for myself how things are looking...I just may jump out the window when I get there...

Moving day! (part 2)

I heard this afternoon from Carina, the Project Manager, that it was confirmed: THE WINDOWS HAD ARRIVED AT THE APARTMENT and were being unloaded from the truck! HALLELUJAH.



This has been the most aggravating and protracted hold-up of them all, BAR NONE. But at least it will be over soon. They'll have all day tomorrow to get them placed and (hopefully) sealed. I'm not thinking that the tiling around the windows in the kitchen and bathroom will get done but let's see how it goes. Steve the architect is going onsite first thing tomorrow and he's going to report in.
Today happens to be my birthday and, honestly, the ONLY thing I wanted was for those damn windows to get to that apartment. It's a good day :)

Moving day! (part 1)

I can't believe it's finally here

Well the day I've been waiting for has finally come. I moved in the furniture today!
But don't light the Roman candles in celebration just yet.
The latest we heard from that damn shipping company is that the windows are now not arriving til TODAY at 5:00. If you remember they were supposed to arrive YESTERDAY at the same time. We think this means they don't arrive at the apartment til Friday...but when on Friday we can't pinpoint. Again, this all FUBARS the whole finishing schedule. Carina, the contractor's Project Manager, and Steve, my architect, are trying to resolve a better solution today with the shippers. Not sure what the outcome will be but stay tuned...BIG SIGH...
Now, the good news: I got up super early this morning* and got to the apartment to see how the cleanup went from yesterday. The place looks GREAT. 90% if the construction paraphernalia is out of there and aside from the windows, there's not much left to finish.
Here's the major punch list:
--the mantel wall needs to be painted the high gloss finish but we don't want to do this while there's still the potential for dust in the air, this will be done last
--still need to install a lot of attached lighting fixtures (dining niche, bedside, above mantel)
--all hallway closet hardware, knobs and pulls, need to be attached
--shower head fixture still needs installing
--same for medicine chest
--toilet needs to be turned on, it's in place
--some miscellaneous hardware in kitchen to be attached
--some finishing millwork trim (under wood veneer wall for instance)
--mantel needs to be polishing and final seal
The Oz Moving guys were a little late because there was a building a few blocks up from my place that had BRICKS falling off it, enperiling pedestrians on the street. 1st Avenue was closed so they were diverting a lot of traffic to Sutton Place. Of course. On the day I wanted the movers to arrive on time...whatever. They were only 30 minutes late. And they couldn't have been nicer. I got up on the truck to show them what pieces went into the apartment and which would stay on the van and come out to the house in Sag Harbor. That's where I am as I write this. I rented a car to beat them out here. They're due to arrive shortly. I just had too much furniture for that little apartment. A lot of big things (a wardrobe, a bed frame, some end tables, some chairs) all had to travel out here. I guess I'll store it in the basement and/or sell it on Craigslist. I hope they don't get lost...

*I went to breakfast at a little diner that's a block from the new apartment. Now, this place is nothing special. As NY diners go it's very average, but in walks this officious looking woman. She presumes to take a 4-top table all to herself, then takes off her expensive looking camel coat and throws it on a chair, throws down her even more expensive Berkin-looking bag in another chair, then starts hammering away at her cell phone with the nastiest looking RBF (Resting Bitch Face) I've seen in quite a while. Who was it? None other than Tina Brown. The waiter brings her a tea and a grapefruit already cut from he rind. She never looked up from that phone, pecking away the whole time. I wanted to say "smile, it won't hurt a bit!"

Ms. Brown

Let there be (recessed) light

Guillermo the contractor emailed me these new pics today. He wanted to show me the recessed lighting at the top of the wood veneer wall. These will of course be on dimmer switches, they're a little bright shown here, but you can see the idea.

Inside kitchen looking out

Inside kitchen, washer/dryer closet on right

Somebody get me a Valium

I dropped by the apartment this afternoon with some more clothes.
It's a Mad House.
All kinds of workers trying to finish last minute stuff...and a cleaning lady bossing everyone around yelling "Hurry up! We've only got 2 HOURS left! Keep moving!".
Of course, still no sign of the windows...but we were told they'd arrive today at 5:00 to some warehouse in NY. Who knows? I'm taking a Zen attitude at this point, it's gonna be what it's gonna be. I sincerely doubt they'll come first thing in the morning now, coinciding with the furniture movers. They've never shown up on time up until now, NOTHING indicates that tomorrow will be any different...which is probably for the best.
I finally met my building's Super, Gerry, in person for the first time...he's a character.
And the daytime doorman is one for the books too. He's one of those wise crackers.
HIM: "Aren't there two of you?" (I think he was referring to Steve, the architect, maybe he thought we were a couple?)
ME: "No, just one of me...unless I have a long lost twin."
"How's it lookin' up there?"
"Great. It's getting there. And looks a helluva lot better than it did. You ever see that old lady's apartment?"
"Yeesh. I don't know how she lived like that."
"Yeah, with the ghost of Marilyn walking around."
"Oh yeah, I think they was friends! She was always talkin' about her. I think they was showgirls together or sumpin".
And if that wasn't crazy enough, they're decorating the lobby of my building like it's the Macy's Parade...more Christmas lights, poinsettias, and garland than you can imagine...and a real tree that must be 15 feet tall. They're having the building's Holiday party tomorrow night, and I can just see the damn window movers trying to bring in those big crates right thru all those revelers. The Board is gonna have me thrown out before I can even move in!! I need to be medicated. Pronto.

Today's mood

Highs & (very low) lows

We had been told that the windows would arrive this past Friday (this was a delay from being told we'd first get them Thursday).

We didn't get them Friday.

We thought they'd come today, our fingers were crossed.

Well...not only did they not come today, we were told by the shipping company that that wouldn't arrive until TOMORROW AT 5PM! 

This is when I wanted to turn on the gas in my gorgeous Wolf oven, turn on the gas, and stick my head in.

I was SO depressed. If only because the furniture IS DUE TO BE DELIVERED THIS WEDNESDAY! 

I'm starting to worry that I'm going to get a brain aneurysm because of all these delays.
There is some cosmic joke being played on me that this all happened on PEARL HARBOR DAY.

So net/net here's the deal: 

the furniture and the windows are both arriving Wednesday morning. It may be a 3 ring circus with all that activity but I've decided it is what it is...BRING IT ALL ON. The workers will have to install the windows around the moving boxes and the movers will have to deliver the furniture around the window workers. 

So that was today's Bad News.

But there was some Good News (Yay).

I brought a couple of bags of clothes to the apartment late today, mostly because I wanted to see the progress (my friend Tony helped me deliver TWO CAR LOADS of clothes yesterday, btw).

The curved wood veneer wall was fully installed and it looks terrific, really sharp. VERY happy with this design choice. Steve's idea really makes the space look special and is a lovely visual focal point when you're in the main room and look into the hallway. There will be small track lighting hidden along the ceiling line above this wood wall that will 'bathe' it in downcast light...I think it will be quite dramatic. Here's a series of new pictures:

Those are drawers below and a cabinet above, the blue tape is temporary until the handles arrive

Another view

Recessed lights will be hidden up in that space at the ceiling line

View into hallway

Another view toward hallway

Kitchen entryway

Kitchen entry, refrigerator

Entryway coat closet

And here's a couple of new kitchen pictures...a closeup of the faucet (I love the aged bronze finish we chose for all the apartment's fixtures), and the new microwave.

One more piece of very good news: remember the wacky shower head installation, the one where the shower head came off the wall instead of being overhead?

The crazy wrong shower head installation, LOL

It's getting fixed. But I was wrong about it being overhead...it does belong on the wall but there is a long bar attachment that is missing, it allows the shower head to be raised and lowered depending on how high the showering person wants it. So all good here, it's an easy fix to add the bar, no need to uproot all those tiles! Whew. 

Watch this space for new developments..a LOT is going to happen this week!