Unlocking the door to my New York City apartment is, as always, like cracking the seal on an ancient tomb. The door groans as I push it open. Inside, the air is stale and dry. A layer of dust covers everything. The living room radiators hiss at me in the dark. There are two people who routinely stay in the apartment whenever they are in New York. They are friends of mine who use the apartment for their own purposes, and do a bit of housesitting for me. They clearly hadn’t been here in awhile. (more…)