callalillie: You Would Think

July 12, 2004

You Would Think

My aunt lived in a tiny studio apartment on West 84th Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam, for years. In the last few months of her life, before she left for Long Island to be cared for by my parents, I spent quite a lot of time there, keeping her company and helping her with daily tasks such as medication, food shopping, and laundry. When she passed away, my parents and I spent several days cleaning out her apartment until, finally, it was empty, too painful for us to be in, and time for to move on.

Since then, I have developed a habit, albeit a bit morbid, of visiting the apartment every few months. In the beginning, I would walk by her stoop as homage, not ready to let go. Over time, as it became easier to deal with her absence, my trips to West 84th Street have taken on more of a curiosity. You see, nearly five years after her death, my aunt’s name is still on the buzzer of Apartment 5C.

Now, I know that some landlords can be a bit absent. Perhaps something was broken on the buzzer, making it hard to change the labels, and at some point, the task of re-labeling was forgotten. Nevertheless, after five years you would think someone would want their name listed next to their apartment number.

I find the whole thing a little weird. In a city that is constantly remodeling, painting over, and moving forward, I assumed that her name would have been removed and replaced before her belongings were even vacated. It makes me wonder who lives there now and if they know, via old neighbors in the building, how sick my aunt was inside those walls. I guess if you really think about it, these things are quite common in the city. Who knows what went on in your apartment before you arrived.

Still, is it not a little creepy to keep the name of a dead tenant on your apartment list?

Posted by callalillie at July 12, 2004 7:32 AM | City Life , La Familia

COMMENTS

i assume the current residents don't know she's dead. i'm sure it's all about anonymity.

Posted by: tien at July 12, 2004 9:12 AM

perhaps. still, wouldn't you want to at least remove the old name from the buzzer, regardless? maybe that's dick cheney's bunker.

Posted by: corie at July 12, 2004 10:52 AM

have you ever tried ringing the bell?

Posted by: ChrisG at July 12, 2004 12:25 PM

nope. i've thought about it, though. i think that might cross the line.

Posted by: corie at July 12, 2004 12:28 PM

aw what's the worst that could happen? you ring and if somebody answers then you know somebody's in there. then again, they could just buzz you in, that would be kind of creepy.

Posted by: ChrisG at July 12, 2004 12:45 PM

that apartment was one of the tiniest i'd ever seen (i doubt it was more than 350 sq ft...maaaybe 400). i wonder who moved into it and if it's still rediculously rent controlled. maybe one day i will buzz them...

Posted by: corie at July 12, 2004 12:50 PM

I wouldn't buzz them. It sounds too much like an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Posted by: ccs178 (Chris) at July 12, 2004 1:52 PM

I lived for two years in an apartment building where the buzzer label was left under the previous tenant's name. The landlord wasn't going to do it so after a few months I was tempted to print up something and Elmer-glue it over the last one (it was encased under glass). But I started to wonder why it was important to me to have my name there. Does it make the apartment more mine? My friends and family know I live there, my neighbors know who I am. I resisted the urge to label because it felt like it was in bad taste - vulgar, like when someone stickers their name on a toy. Besides, I got something of a sick pleasure in knowing that the directory listing was fucked up. There are so many damn labels and names stuck onto everything...

When I moved into my current apartment, the obsessive-compulive co-op president had already labelled my buzzer and I had no choice in the matter (she later soon yelled at me as I was stumbling in at midnight for not recycling the cardboard correctly with twine but that's another story). A friend of mine who is a Dagara shaman-in-training said he felt some strange vibe's in my new apartment and that I needed to burn incense and rid it of spirits. I googled the previous tenant's name and found out that her husband had died of brain cancer. This creeped me out and as much as I don't believe in all that spiritual fooey, I thought to cover my bases anyway and burned a small stockpile of sage and juniper. The apartment is fine now, and I think I've spooked away the restless spirits ;)

Posted by: inkoo at July 12, 2004 1:55 PM